The Anbu and the Teacher
by just a rambling romantic
Summary: ANBU in training Sasuke is sent to be the assistant DADA teacher at Hogwarts, his job is made increasingly harder considering his training master, dubbed 'Yuubisan', is his only companion. [AU, HP crossover, NARUSASU, YAOI!]
1. Chapter 1

A/n: I FIXED THE TSUNADE LETTER! SHE IS ONCE AGAIN THE FITH HOKAGE! NOT THE FOURTH ! BWAHAHA!

Hey, I thought I'd try my luck at a NarutoHP crossover, almost worse than the FMAHP crossovers, but hell, what can I say? I'm a sucker for crossovers… TT.TT

**Basically: **Okay, Sasuke, Naruto and all them are older, and it seems Sasuke has developed a weird fetish for tea in his old age (not that old) and our Sasu-kun is now a Jounin and about to become an Anbu! -squee-

**Disclaimer/Warning:** Oi! I don't own any of these animes/mangas/books… And this is   
YAOI boy on BOY pairing, NaruSasu! And this is a smart Naru fic! –kyaaa!- 3 -heart heart- oh, and I am COMPLETELY disregarding the whole Naruto plot since I haven't read all of it! XDD And Sasuke and Sakura don't know about Naruto's little friend, Kyuubi…. ;)

**Chapter One: Tea**

Sasuke Uchiha sat in the luxurious living room of his house, though mansion would be a better description of his living quarters, in sweatpants and a dark t-shirt. Minutes passed as he listened to the monotonous tick of the grandfather clock. Finally a faint whistling reached his ears and he eagerly got up and made his way to the kitchen where the boiling water invited him to make his afternoon tea. Sasuke is a man of principles, did you know that not once has he ever missed his daily tea, save for some of his harder missions, and even then he found time to take a small sip of the herbal liquid.

He sighed happily as the small packet of spices was lowered into the tea cup. He was determined to enjoy every moment of his tea today, because today he finally had acquired it, the one tea to RULE THEM ALL! And it had been no easy task, not even for the twenty-one-year-old Sasuke Uchiha, Jounin and future Anbu. After many a-ranked missions and begging, yes begging, Tsunade had finally agreed to grant him a holiday to the remote forbidden land of the village hidden in tea, Herbal Bengal. All in all, it had been worth it, even if he had to beg (which he would never admit to, even under pain of torture)

The pleasant mix of dried leaves tickled his senses; in fact, he would have giggled happily if he wasn't an Uchiha, because Uchiha's just DIDN'T giggle. Smirk, yes, cackle, yes, perhaps even a random dark chuckle here and there, but giggling, that was just unheard of. So Sasuke sat and chuckled darkly, actually it was pretty creepy.

As he waited for his tea to cool he heard a faint knock on his window in the living room, but he ignored it, it was his tea time and he would be damned if he was going to let someone ruin it, enemy ninja, or not. _Well, maybe not enemy ninja, _he grumbled,_ after all, what kind of enemy ninja in their right mind would alert the target of their presence?_ Another dark chuckled bubbled from his lips as a certain blonde came to mind. Of course, Naruto would be the type of ninja to do that, _I mean really, he hardly even passed the Jounin exam and was probably still trying to gain permission to ask to be an Anbu!_ The Uchiha's lips formed into a smirk. He was just about to take a sip of his long-awaited tea when a man in an Anbu outfit popped up out of nowhere in front of him, causing Sasuke to almost spill the precious liquid.

Annoyed, Sasuke glared at the intruder (A/N: The reason he didn't spring into action was because it was tea time, and not much is really more important than Sasuke's tea)

The man was clad as most of the Anbu were, complete with the animalistic porcelain mask, which were only given to captains, with his wild yellow hair sticking at all angles. If he hadn't been wearing a mask Sasuke was sure he would have worn an annoyed look on his face. The intruder's golden hair wasn't the only surprising thing about him though; the animalistic mask he wore clearly marked him as a captain. What shocked Sasuke was that the mask's visage was painted to resemble that of the demon fox.

_Is he really an Anbu? I mean seriously, why would he have that on his mask? Perhaps he's new… _Sasuke and the man hadn't moved an inch since the Anbu's arrival.

Minutes passed and finally the man spoke in a monotone voice, Sasuke suspected that the nin didn't want him to know his true voice, "Uchiha-san,"

"…" Sasuke, or should I say: 'Uchiha-san' wasn't feeling too terribly kind towards the stranger enough to speak, so he just glared.

"You're late." The Anbu said after a moment's pause, when Sasuke didn't respond he sighed and tried again, "Tsunade-sama has been waiting for over fifteen minutes, so she sent me to fetch you." An audible growl was in his voice; obviously he wasn't too terribly happy about being sent to fetch _anyone._

"Hn…" Sasuke said and got up, but before he had a chance to set his tea on the kitchen counter he found himself being whisked out of his manor by a transportation jutsu, the Anbu had a short temper.

"Ah, Sasuke-san, nice of you to drop in." The soft deadly voice of the Hokage was the next thing he heard. "Thank you." She nodded to the Anbu, who bowed slightly and disappeared without a sound. "Now, let's get down to business- what are you wearing?" Her eyes settled on him in surprise.

Sasuke thought for a moment before answering, he couldn't just tell her that he had forgotten totally about the meeting she had requested with him, it was already bad enough that she had sent someone to get him, his pride could only take so many hits in one day. "Well…" he began, but Tsunade cut him off.

"I don't want to know." She pulled a folder from her desk and glanced up at him again, "Sasuke, why are you holding _tea._"

"It couldn't be avoided…" Sasuke put his mug down on the nearest table, wishing he could go home and finally drink it.

"Anyways." The Hokage took out a pair of reading glasses, perching them on her nose and holding out the paper in front of her, "I have an important mission for you."

"What rank?"

Tsunade glared at him, "Well, if you would let me finish first, I was going to say it is a C-rank mission for you in levels of danger, possibly a B-rank in levels of difficulty." She turned the paper over, "Don't glare at me like that, you're the only one I can spare to go this time. I need you to go to London and infiltrate the wizarding school of Hogwarts by posing as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher- What did I tell you about glaring!"

Sasuke growled, "A _teacher!_" the volume of his voice was rising, but he didn't really care, "A TEACHER? Why couldn't you send Iruka-sensei!"

"Calm yourself, Sasuke-san." Tsunade laughed slightly, "Iruka is busy with teaching his students and don't even try to tell me to send Kakashi, he would probably show up two months after the school year started." The Hokage laughed at her joke.

"Wait, you said… London, right?" Sasuke looked at her like she had just gone mad, he had heard the tales of this fabulous 'London', and he had thought them to be just that, tales. Nothing more than a bedtime story for rambunctious youngsters who weren't satisfied with the usual ninja meets wolf, wolf eats ninja's grandma, ninja finds wolf, and ninja finds and wipes out wolf's entire clan for revenge.

"Yes, London," Tsunade rubbed her temples and pulled out a scroll from her desk, "listen, I really don't have the time or the patience to tell you everything you need to know here, so just read this when you get to the Leaky Caldron."

"The what?" Sasuke blinked slowly, it felt like the fabric of reality was slowly being pulled apart around him, _maybe this is a dream?_

"Just read the damn scroll," Tsunade made a hand signal and the blonde Anbu from before appeared in the room as Sasuke took the scroll, "He-" she motioned to him, "will fill you in on the rest of anything you need to know." She smirked as the Anbu quirked his head at her, asking a silent question, "You may call him Yuubi-san for now…"

The Anbu bowed and began to make hand signals, seconds later Sasuke found himself outside of a grubby looking pub… without his tea… Sasuke should never be outside of anything without having his tea...

So he was in a foul mood as Yuubi-san dragged him into it. Inside, Sasuke had trouble keeping his jaw from sagging as the Anubu led him through the pub; sure, normal people sat having a cup of coffee and perhaps a crumpet here and there, but there were also all the strange and fantastic creatures of myth, he even swore he saw a vampire before they arrived at Sasuke's new room.

"Uchiha-san, you shouldn't let your jaw hang like that," Yuubi-san put a hand under Sasuke's hanging jaw and closed it for him, "you might swallow a fly."

Sasuke scowled, he didn't like the air of the Anbu, not one bit, but then again it wasn't his job to like the man, he just had to deal with him for this one mission; easy, right? Well, it all depended on how long the mission would take, Tsunade must have put that in the scroll, among other things.

Without being asked the Anbu exited, but not before tossing him an earring, one identical to his ('Yuubi-san's) and saying, "I'll be going now, put that on, if you need to contact me for any reason, just press on it and talk." Then he was gone.

Sasuke looked at the little jeweled ornament; it was gold and silver, with a small red jewel in the middle. With a grumble he set it on the desk, like hell did he need any 'assistance' from that idiot, whoever he was. In Sasuke's mind, anyone who deprived him of his daily tea didn't deserve his obedience, which was already hard to win regardless of tea.

He resumed his goal and opened the scroll, laying it out on his new bed and read:

_Uchiha Sasuke,_

_If you are reading this, then I trust that you have arrived at The Leaky Caldron without any trouble, if not then you have my condolences…well, no not really, if you aren't at the Leaky Caldron now then chances are you're dead.. Anyway, I have chosen you to go on this mission because you are one of the most level-headed ninja I have met. Your mission is to infiltrate the wizarding school of Hogwarts as the new DADA (Defense Against the Dark Arts) teacher._

_You need to gather any information that would gain us the upper hand if ever they were to attack. Their 'ministry of magic' is something that I am particularly interested in,( look into that, won't you?) Infiltration is not the only reason you are there, though, the headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore asked that I send someone to safeguard a rather famous boy named Harry Potter, he is currently in his fourth year. I do not expect you to totally devote yourself to the infiltration portion of the mission, your main concern is keeping that boy safe. _

_Harry Potter is famous for his 'defeat' of the dark wizard Tom Riddle (AKA. Voldemort) Both his parents were murdered by Voldemort when he was only one yea old, somehow Harry rebounded his killing curse and escaped with only a scar, he has two good friends at Hogwarts: Ron and Hermione. _

_As for the infiltration part of the mission, that is why I sent 'Yuubi-san'. He will be around the castle, Dumbledore and the other teachers are under the assumption that he was sent to be a guard for the champions of the Tournament that is being held at Hogwarts this year. He will also see to it that you complete your training as an Anbu, I cannot tell you more about him other than he is one the top Anbu of the village, as for his real name, that you will have to find out on your own. _

_One other thing I forgot to mention, you are not the only DADA teacher, you will be working with a former auror, his name is Mad-eye Moody. That is all for now, Sasuke, take care, you know what do with this letter._

_The Fith Hokage_

_Tsunade_

Sasuke read it twice, memorizing everything of importance and threw the scroll into the empty fireplace, setting it afire with a hand jutsu. He looked out the window, it was getting dark, with a sad sigh he undressed and got under the covers in his silky boxers (A/N: You all know I had to do that, sorry ;)

He let his mind wander back to Konoha, he wondered what everyone was doing. Kakashi-sensei was probably reading one of his Icha-Icha Paradise books in Iruka-sensei's living room, for some reason his former teachers had been spending more and more time together (maybe they enjoyed each other's company?) Yes, that had to be it.

Sakura and Ino were probably in the middle of the woods with the rest of his fan club performing some voodoo ritual to make him fall madly in love with them. What would Naruto being doing around now? _Eating ramen, _his sleepy brain told him, _that's what the dobe always does, I think…_

Then he thought of the hokage, _in her office, sleeping and-_ "Oh my god!" Sasuke sat straight up in the bed, "My tea!" he slumped back down rejectedly, how could he leave his tea? The ONE TEA TO RULE THEM ALL! The wonderful drink he had risked his neck to get, it was probably ruined by now.

"Damn…"

TBC

Okay, make sure you all R&R! Sorry everyone is a little, well, A LOT OOC! Sasuke is a lot more talkative than usual, but since he is the main character so far, key words: so far, he has to have a lotta dialogue. Did you guys get the connection with 'Yuubi-san'? if not, I can clear that up for you, tell me what you think, and at the risk of being repetitive…

_**READ AND REVIEW!**_

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	2. Chapter 2

See the first chapter for the disclaimer and junk

_A slight recap:_

_So far we have determined that Sasuke is now going to Hogwarts to guard that Potter-kid and Yuubi-san as also been sent to infiltrate Hogwarts, interesting, ne? Sasuke's beloved tea is now forgotten and lonely on Tsunade's desk, where it will soon be thrown away because, quote the Hokage "I can't work with al this crap in my office!" /quote _

CHAPTER TWO!

"Uchiha-san." A familiar voice said.

"…mmph…" Sasuke rolled over.

There was a sigh, and then another more urgent, "Uchiha-san…" then a poke.

"Go 'way" Sasuke mumbled childishly, he had no idea what time in the morning it was, but it felt suspiciously like it was around three.

"Sasuke." The voice sounded commanding and serious, and the Uchiha found it was probably in his best interest to at least see what it wanted.

"What?" Sasuke growled and rolled over to face the annoyance, only to find the visage of the demon fox on a porcelain mask and the man that wore the mask inches from him.

"Get up." The Anbu sounded amused as Sasuke pulled the blankets around himself in indignation, taking care to see that his face remained the same emotionless expression (

A/N: that was an oxymoron XPPP).

"Is that all?" Sasuke glared at him, moments later he realized the oddity of the scene, "Why are you in my room?"

"If you had worn the earring I wouldn't have had to come in." Yuubi-san picked up the stray ornament on Sasuke's dresser and walked over to him.

"hn…" Sasuke turned his head to glare at the wall, finding that he didn't want to look at the Anbu for some reason. "Can't." was all he muttered.

"Why not?" Yuubi-san sat next to him and crossed his legs, ignoring that he was invading Sasuke's personal bubble.

Sasuke was taken aback by the man's bluntness; it showed plainly on his face, "B-because," he spluttered, "my ear isn't even pierced!"

"Easily fixed," the Anbu shrugged, "hold still." He reached out and Sasuke dodged away from him impulsively. Yuubi-san's eyes narrowed, the slits in the mask allowed Sasuke to see only that much of his face, the blonde Anbu's eyes glinted maliciously, "What's the matter, Uchiha-san? Scared?" a slight taunt was audible in his voice.

Sasuke opened his mouth to reply, but the part of his mind responsible for coming up with witty sarcastic remarks had temporarily abandoned his head, leaving him only to open and close his jaw furiously, unable to think or say anything in retaliation. This was just the chance Yuubi-san needed to pin the scowling Uchiha under him and effectively pierce the man's ear.

Sasuke looked at the Anbu in shock and horror; it almost felt like everything was happening in slow motion. His mind froze, he stared blankly up at the Anbu, the only things running through his mind were the thoughts that he was currently pinned _under_ an _Anbu captain, _while clad only in his _boxers, _and that the man was indeed _very_ muscular under his Anbu outfit. Sasuke's body had gone numb with shock, he was vaguely aware of a throbbing in his left ear, the loud beating of his heart, all of his blood rushing to his face and the moths and butterflies that he must have swallowed that were now fluttering around in his stomach.

Yuubi-san had produced a small bottle of something and a cotton ball and had now began to dab the liquid onto his ear, making it sting. Sasuke's eyes followed the path of Yuubi-san's hand and darted back up to the mask substituting as the man's face.

He twitched and gasped slightly as the liquid stung his ear again, it felt like his ear was being ripped open and taped shut, then being ripped open again. The Anbu must have noticed this, and maybe it was because he felt bad for piercing Sasuke's ear without asking, or maybe it was because he just felt sorry for him, he did something completely unexpected. Slowly the Anbu undid his mask, making sure his face was still mostly covered and lifted it slightly, exposing a minimum amount of his tan face and leaned down closer to Sasuke's ear and blew gently on it, like water cascading onto a hot pan. Sasuke's body trembled and relaxed without his consent and he felt his eyes begin to sag, he felt emotionally strained and now wanted nothing more than to sleep.

_How the hell did he do that? Wait, what exactly did he do? _Sasuke's mind was spinning in a thousand different directions as he dimly registered that the Anbu had gotten off him, and readjusted his mask back to cover all of his face again and had not tied it, but not before Sasuke had a glimpse of three suspiciously familiar whisker-like scars on one side of his face. _Now where have I seen those before_, he had so many questions, but his mind was screaming for him to sleep and now he was no longer the one calling the shots.

"Sorry, Uchiha-san, but its better that this happens now, rather than later," The blonde Anbu watched Sasuke's eyes as their pupils dilated and his eyelids drooped, "you probably won't remember this without prompting from some kind of serum, so I want to let you know something…"

He watched amusedly as Sasuke sat up and looked at him sleepily.

"Why?" he muttered.

"Uchiha-san…" The Anbu's voice was soft, "Do you know why the Anbu are feared by all other enemy nin, and why our name is known even in this very community?"

Sasuke shook his head, swaying in the effort to stay awake, and Yuubi-san sighed, "It is because we are unfeeling, without emotions we lose the part that makes us a human being and that allows us to do our job quickly and efficiently." He sighed again, "It is not required that we lose our emotions completely, but that we simply lock some of them away for awhile, whether it be somewhere in the depths of our minds, or in an object, like a necklace," the Anbu reached out a touched Sasuke's ear, "Or an earring."

"So… you mean…" Sasuke touched the earring, his eyes widening.

"Yes," The Anbu said, "but in this there are only the slight shadows of my original feelings, and some memories. If you can figure out how to unlock those feelings and memories in the earring, then not only will you know who and what I am, but also how I feel about you. But I'm warning you now; it won't be easy, even if you do remember this conversation."

"How you feel…" Sasuke repeated stupidly, "About me?"

"Yes, teme, about you, goodnight." There was a slight chuckle.

"Aha!" Sasuke's mouth was speaking on its own, "You can't call me 'teme' only Naruto can call me that…" With that said he fell backwards into a deep sleep.

Naruto laughed and removed his mask, "Yes, you're still the same old Sasuke," He went over to his former teammate's side, brushing back a strand of his dark hair. "Perhaps a little more talkative than the old Sasuke I knew." Gently he pulled the covers over one of the last remaining Uchiha and kissed him softly on the forehead, "Sorry I'm such a coward, Sasuke, maybe someday I can change that, maybe someday I'll tell you." He smiled ad picked up the bottle of liquid he had put on Sasuke's ear to heal it, _Tsunade's elixir for any occasion_, was written in big calligraphic letters on the front. On the back of the bottle was a large warning sign: 'Some side effects may include minor memory loss and or sleepiness.'

With a sigh he donned his mask and his professional attitude once more, "Good night, Uchiha-san." He said as he turned off the light a left the room.

----------

Sasuke awoke the next morning to the sound of people rushing down the hallways, and shouting. He sat up with a groan and rubbed his head, what had happened last night? All he remembered was falling asleep, and then he had a very strange dream, something with Naruto in it, which was quite odd in itself, considering he hadn't seen the hyper-active blonde in months. Naruto had been summoned before Tsunade and sent on a mission to escort a princess visiting from the earth country back to her palace. Well, actually it wasn't that odd, after Naruto had left he had began to have dreams about him, and he hadn't the foggiest idea why, but they had stopped a month ago.

There was a knock at the door. "Uchiha-san, are you up?"

"Yeah…" Sasuke rubbed his neck, then froze as his hand encountered something metal one his left ear. When Yuubi-san walked into the Uchiha's room he encountered a very odd site indeed, "What are you doing?"

"When did _this _happen!" Sasuke was standing in front of the mirror clutching his newly pierced ear.

"Oh, yes, that looks like it healed quite nicely." Yuubi-san nodded, coming up behind him.

"What?" Sasuke turned sharply to face the Anbu.

"Oh, yes, last night I pierced your ear for you, you don't remember?" Yuubi-san asked innocently.

"No…" Sasuke glared back at reflection in the mirror, all in all it wasn't a bad look, and after all, it was only a small earring, nothing too extravagant, hardly noticeable.

"Pity." Yuubi-san tossed something to Sasuke and walked out of the room saying over his shoulder, "Put those on, you can't walk around in your boxers all day. Spend a day in Diagon Alley, you'd be surprised at what you can learn." Before Sasuke could ask he stuck his head back in the room, "Go to the back of the inn, ask one of the locals to let you in." then he left.

"Ass…" Sasuke's face turned pink as he began to dress himself. Minutes later he regarded himself in his long mirror, at least the man had an exceptional taste in clothes. He had been given black pants and a white button up long-sleeved shirt, which he could deal with. But the long navy overcoat had been a bit much in his opinion, it was cold outside though, so with a sigh he donned it. Near the door he spotted a pair of black shoes and socks, did this man forget nothing? With a swish of his coat he padded stealthily down the hallway.

Loud voices and the chatter of many people reached his keen ears as he neared the main room of the inn. Opening the door he ducked as a cup sailed over his head and crashed on the wall behind him. Cocking a smooth eyebrow he glanced around the room, a slew of people were gathered around the middle of the room. Sounds of two people cursing at each other rose over the others as Sasuke made his way to the center of the crowd.

A tall boy with red hair and many freckles was waving around a stick in his hand at his opponent, a boy with white-blonde hair and the face of a skinny evil cherub. The blonde boy was also waving around a stick, and the crowd surrounding them was gasping in suspense, but before anything of interest could occur, a boy with glasses and black hair stepped into the fray with three red-haired men, who must have been related to the freckled boy.

"Ron, let it go, this is pointless!" the dark-haired boy was trying to plead with the freckled boy obviously designated as 'Ron'.

"Yeah, common Ron, he's not worth our time." One of the red-haired men had grabbed hold of Ron's arm and was attempting to pull him away.

"Let me go, Charlie!" Ron snarled, "Do you know what that bastard did! No one insults my mother!"

"Ron, you've gotta stop taking offense to everything that git says!" the dark haired boy had now taken out a stick of his own, Sasuke almost laughed, but as stated in the earlier chapter: Uchihas **don't** laugh. So Sasuke settled for smirking condescendingly at the teens. _Fools, _he thought to himself, _trying to fight with sticks, this community is a strange one._

"Easier said than done, Harry." Ron spat.

"Shut up, Ron." Harry retorted, pointing his wand at the blonde boy.

"OOO, I'm soooo scared, Potter." The boy smirked, in fact, if Sasuke hadn't witnessed the murder of his clan firsthand, he would have sworn the boy had some Uchiha blood in him, smirks like that don't come easily.

"Stuff it, Malfoy." Harry growled at the boy.

The other red-haired man put a hand on Harry's shoulder, "Come on, don't make yourself look like a hypocrite, you just told Ron not to take offense to everything he said, try taking your own advice."

"Fine, Bill," Harry allowed himself to be led a few steps back from Malfoy.

"What's all this then?" A man clad in very strange clothes had pushed his way into the crowd, and Sasuke was strongly reminded of something the old Hokage had worn, minus the giant hat. "What have you boys gotten yourself into now?"

"Why, Arthur Weasly! What a pleasant surprise." A man in black was standing behind Malfoy, his long silver hair was tied at the back of his neck with a ribbon, and in his gloved hand was a staff with a silver snake's head on the top.

"Lucius…" Arthur Weasly growled out his greeting.

"Now I'm sure my boy, Draco, hasn't been causing you any trouble, has he?" Lucius Malfoy put a hand on Draco's shoulder.

Charlie put a hand over Ron's mouth to stifle his reply. Unfortunately, Bill wasn't as fast to cover Harry's mouth, "Your sorry excuse for a son mfghn-"Bill managed to stop the rest of his sentence.

"Excuse me? What was that?" Draco's eyes narrowed.

"What business do you have here, Lucius?" Arthur cut in and changed the subject.

"Mr. Weasly?" a brown haired girl with bushy hair pushed her way past Sasuke with a muttered, 'excuse me' and went up to Arthur, "Mr. Weasly, Mrs. Weasly told me to tell you that- what's going on here?" (déjà vu) she looked from Harry to Ron to Arthur to Bill to Charlie to Draco and finally to Lucius.

"It's none of your business, mudblood." Draco crossed his arms regally and the crowd around them gasped, the girl looked stricken and like she was about to cry.

Bill and Charlie released Harry and Ron and they all drew sticks of their own and advanced on the two Malfoys, "That went too far, Malfoy." Ron snarled.

"You might want to stop this before it turns violent, Uchiha-san." A voice whispered softly in his ear, making small shivers dance down his spine. He turned, but didn't see the Anbu anywhere in sight. The crowd had begun to back away now, as the scene was becoming increasingly dangerous.

Now was as good a time as any to step in, so Sasuke strode in between the feuding men (by now Ron and Malfoy were toe to toe) and gracefully ended the fight in a quick, calculated move. He put his left hand behind Ron's head and his right behind Malfoy's, then brought his hands together in a swift motion, painfully bringing the two preteens head's together.

"There, maybe now we can get some peace around here…" he clapped his hands together to wipe off the greasy feeling of Draco's hair on his palm, gaining a gasp from the crowd they had acquired.

"Who exactly do you think you are!" Lucius Malfoy was pointing the stick at his throat and his eyes were flashing dangerously, but he regained his cool and cleared his throat, "I suggest you begin talking."

"Or what?" Sasuke smirked, glancing down at the polished mahogany that was pointing at him. "You're going to poke me with _that?_"

"Are you _mocking _me?" Lucius asked incredulously.

"…" Sasuke glared at the older of the Malfoy's and saw the glare was returned, and chuckled darkly inside his head, knowing that he wouldn't be the first to crack under the pressure.

"Sir," Arthur decided to go the more polite route, "Who exactly are you?"

"Why?"

"What?" Arthur's jaw dropped.

"Why do you need to know my name? What would you do with it?" Sasuke glared harder at Lucius, who was beginning to sweat nervously.

"W-well…" Arthur faltered.

"I would send a hitman to wipe out your entire family…" Draco had regained consciousness to answer Sasuke's question and was holding his face, nursing a bloody nose.

"Too late." Sasuke murmured too softly for them to hear, and then chuckled darkly as Lucius finally looked away, putting away his stick and picking Draco up by the arm.

"Boy, you will pay for your foolhardiness!" Lucius pulled Draco towards the door, "Come Draco, we're leaving." He growled as they made a hasty retreat.

"hn… Fools…" Sasuke watched them go, then turned to leave himself when he found three very angry faces, not four, because Bill was checking to make sure the unconscious Ron was okay (Being the more reasonable of the family besides Ginny).

"Sir, I am glad that you showed the Malfoys the door, but did you have to knock out my son too?" Mr. Weasly's tone was even, masking the anger in his voice.

"Hn…" Sasuke kept his face indifferent.

" Owww…" Ron finally came to, he looked around, then saw Sasuke, "Oi! Who the hell are you?"

"Uchiha Sasuke." The Uchiha stated bluntly.

"Wait, your name is Uchiha?" Harry laughed.

"That is my family's name, was my family's name." Sasuke wiped a fleck of dust off his coat.

"So you're from the Japan region!" Arthur cried delightedly, "So that means you're visiting London for the first time?"

Sasuke nodded and added bluntly, "Well, it's also my first time into the wizarding world."

"What!" almost half of the pub fell over in surprise.

----------

On the other side of the bar in the shadows Naruto watched amusedly as Sasuke proved once again he was still the same old pain-in-the-ass as always. Naruto had cleverly disguised himself with a genjustu and he now looked like a man in his late teens with long brown hair and glasses for added effect. _Ha! _he laughed to himself, _Sasuke wouldn't recognize me if I walked up and asked witch way to Ichiraku's Ramen shop!_ He allowed himself a smile, and walked out of the pub to Diagon alley, where he would gather what information he could and keep an eye out for Sasuke.

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TO BE CONTINUED! UFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFU! Wow, that was the longest chapter I've written in awhile. Hope you all liked it! And once again, just tell me if you guys are confused!

-bows-

READ AND REVIEW! Thank you all for your time! )


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, I am SOoOoOoOoO sorry that I didn't get this updated sooner, I was grounded from my laptop for TWO weeks… -sobsob- but now I'm back with a vengeance! Whaahahahahahahaaha!

-bows- soooo incredibly sorry, once again! ;

And now, as promised…

CHAPTER THREE!

_**RECAP**_

_Sasuke kicked some ars in the last chap and got his ear pierced, and then with a change of wardrobe (courtesy of Yuubi-san) he broke up a fight in the leaky caldron, coincidentally meeting up with Harry, Hermione and the Weasley gang! _

_Meanwhile, Yuubi-san (Naruto) has decided to go incognito around Diagon Alley to root up anything suspicious, and possibly keep a look out for Sasu! _

**Okay, I need to let you readers know something! **Most of this story is told in Sasuke's mindset, meaning that you will know as much as he does. As of now he still doesn't know that Yuubi-san is Naruto, so when telling the story from his point of view Naru will be referred to as Yuubi-san. Bwaha!

So now onto the chapter! (oh yes, and now Sasuke knows who the hell everyone is and all that jazz)

_Thinking_

_**Kyuubi speaking**_

Arthur Weasley. The first wizard Sasuke had ever met. Not one of the brightest stars in the sky, but he was the only wizard Sasuke had at his disposal, so he had resorted to following the Weasley's as they began their normal wizarding rounds.

"So you said this was your first time visiting Diagon Alley, right?" Hermione, the bushy haired girl had come up beside him and was now looking up expectantly.

"Hn…" Sasuke nodded, trying not to look at the girl. He had never really been too fond of children; they were more of Naruto and Sakura's deal.

"Not much of a talker, eh?" Ron joined the conversation.

Sasuke didn't answer, but Harry also decided to join the new seemingly popular act of bothering Sasuke, "Have you ever heard of Hogwarts?" He asked.

"Yes." Sasuke finally caved to their questions.

"But I thought this was your first time visiting the wizarding world." Hermione looked surprised.

Sasuke sighed; he didn't feel much like going into this subject. It meant he was going to have to lie, and the one thing he disliked about lying was the single fact that you had to remember everything you said so it wouldn't look suspicious later. So he said in a slightly more miserable tone than he had intended, "Yes, it is. But it isn't looked upon too highly if you don't know the name of the school of where your employer works." He then tapped Arthur on the shoulder, and said, "Thank you for your assistance, but I must be going."

"Oh, well, see you around, then?" Mr. Weasley turned to face him, but all he saw was a rapidly receding figure of a man wearing a trench coat fading into the crowd.

"Did he say employer?" Harry scratched his head confusedly.

"Who cares!" Ron yelped as he caught a glimpse of every quidditch player's dream broom, "Look at that!" he pressed his nose against the glass window that the firebolt sat in, leaving smudges on the polished surface, "They say the Irish team's ordered one of these for every one of their players." He breathed, creating a cloud of condensation on the glass to mingle with the finger marks until it disappeared.

_**So sorry folks! I'm kinda switching around the order of things here; they're going to Diagon Alley before the Quidditch world cup!**_

"Really?" Harry joined him in gaping at the broom.

"Come on boys, we're meeting Mrs. Weasley at the robe shop in an hour and we've still got a lot to do!" Arthur clapped them on the shoulder and steered them away.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had slipped down an alleyway and was now leaning against the wall, looking up at the darkening storm clouds that had decided to make themselves known in the past ten minutes.

As the precipitation from the clouds began to waft down, Sasuke caught a glimpse of the red-haired Weasley's making their way into clothing shop. He felt a similar prickling feeling on the back of his neck and his eyes shifted to the other side of the street.

A boy in garb similar to Sasuke's was staring at him, just as he had suspected. Though he had to admit, even though a boy was staring at him, he had expected this from the start. In Konoha, he had acquired quite the group of admirers, (A.K.A.: Fangirls and boys) so why not here?

Sasuke had planned ahead for this, though, in his short period with the Weasley's he had picked up a few odd shaped explosives called 'dung bombs'. If he needed to, all Sasuke had to do was throw a couple down and he would be on his merry way as the fangirls writhed in pain and nausea. But Sasuke found no reason to use the bombs now; after all, it was only one boy.

Sasuke had found over the years that fanboys were much more tolerable than their loud and squealing counter parts. It wasn't that he enjoyed having fans; in fact he sometimes envied Naruto for being the village outcast. Sasuke immediately shook that thought out of his head, silently scolding himself. _How can I envy him when I don't even know why he's the village outcast?_ The Uchiha made a mental note to get to know Naruto better when he gets back to Konoha. Why? Well, he didn't want to think about why he even bothered to care about the obnoxious blonde, not now at least.

The boy seemed to have noticed Sasuke's staring, because he slid his sunglasses down to his nose, revealing clear blue eyes behind the curtain of brown hair, and smirked. Sasuke blinked, perplexed by his behavior. Usually when faced by a fanboy or girl all he had to do was look at them and they'd be a puddle of joy for the next two hours. But this boy must not know or play by those rules, because as Sasuke's befuddled mind tried vainly to sort things out, the boy had crossed the now emptying street and was getting closer by the second to the alley in which Sasuke stood.

"Hey." His clear voice rang through the air, catching Sasuke off guard. He just kind of stood there and stared closed mouthed at the boy, who was in his late teens.

The boy cocked a slender eyebrow and grinned in a familiar way, "So Uchiha-san, I gather your people skills are still sharp as ever."

Sasuke's eyes widened as his mind came to a shocking and painful conclusion. Firstly, I say shocking because he was surprised to see his Anbu partner standing right in front of him. And secondly, I say painful because this new information was just too much for his already over-exerted mind to handle. Before he knew it, his vision was clouding over and a strange sense of uncaring washed over him.

1

Naruto saw the way Sasuke's eyes widened when he had said 'Uchiha-san', and he didn't miss the unknotting of his rival's eyebrows from their usual scowl. So when Sasuke fell forwards, Naruto caught him neatly in his arms.

"All you Uchiha are the same." He shook his head, "Study till you drop, train till you drop, _shop_ till you drop." He lifted the unconscious Sasuke in his arms, marveling at how light he was, and began the trek back to the Leaky Caldron.

-----------------------0

Harry Potter was in a considerably better mood as they left Madam Malkin's Robe Shop. Ron also looked happier as they walked into the rainy street. Mr. Weasley held his wand above his head and the rain that was falling on them stopped and the droplets began to pool together to create some kind of water umbrella for all of them, with the excess water spilling off onto the street and not onto them.

Yes, magic was a wonderful thing, and Harry smiled as he thought about it. He found himself to be incredibly fortunate that he had been introduced into the wizarding world.

_But that Sasuke guy, _he thought, _this was his first time in Diagon alley, or so he said, and he didn't look at all excited or interested. _

He glanced at Hermione whom we will nickname Mione because this authoress hates spelling her name, bleh. She was staring ahead of them, along with the rest of their little group and Harry followed the direction of their eyes and saw something quite particular indeed. It was a man carrying another man bridal style, a little weird, but the REALLY weird part was that the unconscious man being carried looked suspiciously like Sasuke.

Bill had noticed this and was no striding through the rain towards the two. "Excuse me, but who are you?" he tried to sound amiable.

"Who am I?" the long-haired boy repeated the question. Bill nodded, and the boy grinned, adjusting Sasuke in his arms to a more comfortable position for the Uchiha. "You may call me Yuubi-san."

"Yuubi-san?" Bill and Charlie echoed. The boy nodded.

"I am a…" He looked like he was looking for the right word to say, "Co liege of Uchiha-san's." he smiled happily.

Hermione had sidled up in between Harry and Ron, looking mildly interested.

"But," Naruto continued, "It seems as though I have inconveniently forgotten my wand in our rooms, may I trouble you to let us into the inn?" Naruto was lying through his teeth, he didn't have a wand, and mainly he had just been using jutsu's to pass between the Leaky Caldron and Diagon Alley.

"Well, I suppose we could," Mr. Weasley stepped forward, "I am Arthur Weasley." He introduced himself, then the rest of his group, and when he finally reached Harry's name, Naruto inclined his head in a small bow to the group.

"Well, _Yuubi-san _did you say?" Charlie clapped Naruto on the shoulder and took out his wand, tapping bricks as he spoke, "Maybe you can clear up a few questions about our mysterious friend, Sasuke, hm?"

The archway opened and they stepped through and Naruto turned towards the stairs, glancing back at Charlie, with sharp eyes. "Maybe later." Then with a foxy grin he whisked the unconscious Sasuke up the stairs, leaving a very bewildered Charlie in his wake.

1

Naruto kicked open the door to his room. He had left his unlocked because there was nothing of value in there that he would leave alone, and Sasuke had locked his room, so this was the only option in Naruto's mind.

Gently he laid the Uchiha on his newly made bed and straightened up, "Geez, you may look skinny but you must've eaten pure lead for breakfast." He rubbed his stiffened arms to get the blood pumping again as he walked towards the door.

Without warning there was a popping sound and a small cloud of smoke wafted around him. Surprised, he looked at the clock on his wall, _Time already?_ He thought, _I guess I should've kept better track of the clock… _

**_No. _**The growl of the nine-tailed fox demon sounded in his mind, **_it's almost time for the solstice, my foolish kit._**

_Summer solstice has already passed; _Naruto glanced to make sure Sasuke was still asleep before going to his mirror, looking at his real face, running a rough hand over his whisker-like scars. _Besides, what does a solstice have to do with my justu failing after just three hours? And how many times do I have to tell you that I am not a kit!_

A feral chuckle sounded, and Naruto scowled, **_you are a renowned Anbu captain throughout the land, you've killed countless numbers of enemy nin, the people have no idea who you truly are, but methinks that if they knew what I knew about you they would know that you are… _**TheKyuubi paused and Naruto waited for what it would say next.

A minute passed…

Naruto was about to say something when Kyuubi finally roared, **_STILL A KIT!_** Naruto's scowl deepened as the fox demon proceeded to roar in laughter.

_Just shut up and tell me what the deal with the damned solstice is. _Naruto failed to see the humor.

**_Why so angry, kit? _**The kyuubi's mind moved to where Sasuke lay on the bed, and Naruto's cheeks flushed, **_Maybe you should take a nap, ne? _**

_SHUT UP! _Naruto growled, baring his sharp canines in a grimace. (A/N: We all know that since Kyuubi is in Naru's body he has had some of the similar traits, and since he's like older now, some traits have become more noticeable than others…)

**_I only point out what you yourself were thinking _**Kyuubi's voice was laced with glee.

_Kyu! _Naruto snarled silently, _get the hell on with explaning this goddam solstice!_

_**Fine, no need to be so touchy about it…**_

TBC! Bo ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Hope you all liked it! -smile smile- I had fun typing this hope you had fun reading it!

Oh, and if ya are a fan of RossXHawkeye pairings then hit up kurama-sweethart's page at this link!

http/ called Sapphic and you MUST GO AND READ IT!


	4. Chapter 4

SOOO Sorry it took me this long to get this up! Goddam school and all and grades and being grounded, I'm sure you've been through it (except all you over achievers! XP)

To my dear miss Lady Bird: have ya ever picked up something really light and then carried it around for an hour? It gets really heavy in that time period -smiles- sorry for being inconsistent, I probably should have worded it better XP nyah

**AND TO ALL MY WONDERFUL ANONYMOUS REVIEWERS WHO AREN'T MEMBERS OF PLEASE PLEASE _PLEASE_** **LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS WITH YOUR REVIEW! I WANT TO BE ABLE TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEW! **

RECAP

Sasuke had an overload of information and is currently passed out on Naruto's bed. Kyuubi is teasing Naruto mercilessly about Sasuke and is about to explain why his jutsu's are getting weaker. Later on, Naruto has made plans to meet up with Charlie and maybe Bill to answer some questions, and maybe pose a few of his own. By the by, it is a Wednesday.

Onto the chapter!

CHAPTER FOUR!

**The solstice, **the kyuubi began, **happens every eighty-eight years and lasts for one week, what you are experiencing is the first stages of it… **

_Okay, _Naruto's quick mind had already formed the conclusion, _so my chakra reserves are temporarily depleted?_

**Yes, **Kyuubi began.

_Well, that's not too bad, _Naruto interjected. _All I have to do is limit the amount of chakra I use. Doing things the old-fashioned will be a good break from the norm._

**KIT! **Naruto winced, **Let me finish! Not only are your chakra reserves lessened, but your connection to me is also completely spent. You MUST remember this because for the _next week (starting Monday), _if you are badly hurt, I will not have the power to heal you. Dying of blood loss is not a pleasant process. **

Naruto gulped, _completely? Will you be okay?_ Waves of concern emanated through those thoughts.

**Your concern is touching, but unnecessary. **The blunt reply came with the slightest edge of softness in it. **You survived without talking to me for the first 15 years of your life; you'll manage a week without me.**

Naruto nodded in a silent gesture of understanding. Then a soft rustling and a movement on the bed made the blonde shinobi freeze and slowly pivot around. Sasuke had changed positions and was now sprawled across the bed on his stomach.

Upon entering the room, the blue overcoat had been discarded to increase the level of comfort along with the shoes and socks. Now as Sasuke lay catlike on the bed, his white shirt had began to ride up, unknowingly exposing the smooth, slightly scarred, porcelain skin of his back.

Naruto's face was rapidly growing hotter, all thoughts of the solstice had ceased and Kyuubi's voice had now receded into a low buzz in the back of his mind. Pressure that seemed to congregate in his face was now pressing its way outward, making his ears pop.

KYUUBI

Kyuubi was annoyed now. He was being **completely** ignored by his host. With a growl the demon stalked around his portion of the kit's mind. It was very dark, considering his mood. His 'prison' was a normal room that he could manipulate into any shape or form he wished, near one of the walls was a gigantic door lined in gold and green. It was the door to Naruto's mind. Kyuubi had never ventured there, everything he needed was in his room, the kit had made sure of that, and he could easily access what his host was seeing and hearing if he wanted to.

The form he had taken when speaking to the kit was one that resembled the basic pattern of a human, and a very interesting one at that. His hair was bright orange and fell to his elbows with two long fox ears sticking out where normal ears would have been. He was tall, over six feet and under seven, and wearing a black yukata lined in delicate flames and swirls. Under the garment he wore no undershirt, revealing an identical spiral tattoo to Naruto's around his navel. Behind him fanned out his signature nine tails, each one writhing in their own sinuous dance. They were an ever present reminder of his youthful days.

He had been young and reckless, and with good reason, was he not the feared nine-tail fox, Kyuubi no Kitsune? Humans were considered his playthings. In times of peace, and boredom, he would pick fights with the strongest of their kind to see how long it would take to kill them. He had miscalculated and ended up here, inside one of those dreadful creatures.

It is often said that knowing and understanding walk hand in hand. While growing up with and within this boy, this _human_, Kyuubi had come to realize that these beings he had considered toys in what was now his past life, were much more than that. They had to deal with many of the same disasters as his race, even if their life spans were that of ants compared to his own. ((A/N: Sorry for the crappy paragraph…))

With a clawed hand he commanded one of his walls into a giant screen of what Naruto was seeing and hearing. It was the Uchiha boy. Kyuubi sniggered, the kit had been hopelessly lusting after the dark-eyed loner ever since the boy had 'died for him' back when he was a gennin. Ironically, Sasuke was the sole reason that Kyuubi and his 'kit' could even converse. If he hadn't 'died' saving Naruto then the seal wouldn't have cracked, allowing Kyuubi to reach beyond the confines of the justu's power.

"**Well, if you're going to ignore me, then I suppose I'll just have to amuse myself in other ways…" **he stated aloud, stretching out his back with a slight pop.

Over the years, it had become common knowledge to the demon that when Naruto's mind was locked into 'sasuke-mode' (as kyuu had dubbed it) his body was temporarily under Kyuubi's control. Of course, Kyuubi had never acted on this knowledge; then again, he hadn't really had a reason to before. So with a devilish grin that could only be found on the one and only face of the nine-tailed fox, Kyuubi held out his hands over the floor and a control console appeared before him.

BACK TO THE WAY NARU SEES IT

Naruto's mind barely registered that he was walking forward. His hands reached out to touch Sasuke, wandering up the dark Uchiha's shirt to feel smooth muscle and silk-like skin. It felt wonderful, but somewhere a tiny voice of common sense was screaming for him to stop.

You are _feeling up_ Uchiha Sasuke! It screamed. While he's_ unconscious _and passed out on your bed! STOP!

It seemed, though, that Naruto's body didn't much feel like listening to common sense, because now he was leaning down to nibble the exposed skin on Sasuke's neck. Sasuke made a little sound of pleasure and Naruto was jolted back into reality. Red-faced, he sprung back from the bed, grabbing for his Anbu mask.

_Kyuubi! _He snarled. _What the hell did you do!_

**You were ignoring me. ** The blunt reply sounded.

_Bastard. _Naruto tied the Anbu mask onto his face with shaking hands, drawing an unsteady breath. _Don't you **ever** do that again._

**Fine. **Kyuubi pouted, and then receded back from contact with Naruto's mind with a sly: **I only did what you hadn't the courage to. If you need to talk, you know where to find me.**

Walking out the door to prepare for his meeting with Charlie, Naruto avoided looking at Sasuke. That had been a close one. Once again he cursed his recklessness. It was amazing he hadn't been caught by now, but there was plenty of time for that later.

CHARLIE'S ROOM

(A/N: Charlie is the one who looks after dragons, right?)

Charlie ran a rough hand through his bright red hair. Once again, he scanned the letter sent to him by the headmaster of his former school.

_Charlie_,

It read…

_I have an important job for you and perhaps Bill, too. It concerns the guard I will be hiring to protect Harry this year. He should have an accomplice with him. It doesn't really matter who you talk to, but keep an ear out for the one named 'Yuubi-san'. _

_This is their first time in the wizarding world,( that's all I can tell you without breaking certain pacts) and that you are to never, under **any** circumstances engage them into combat unless you wish to leave this world in an untimely and most likely painful death._

Charlie blinked at the sentence. In the margin next to the headmaster's writing was what looked like a smiley face. He shook his head. Dumbledore was a strange one, alright.

_Do make sure you tell them, or at least one of them, what you know about this 'Alice-in-Wonderland world' that we call our own. _

_Yours truly,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Charlie read the letter once more, then folded it up and put it into a small pocket in his trunk. Reluctantly, he shuffled out the door and up the stairs to the third floor. Charlie counted the numbers until he reached his brother's door and knocked twice on it.

A shuffling noise came from inside the room, along with a few muffled curses from a masculine and a feminine voice. Charlie rolled his eyes. Success had definitely gotten to his brother's head. Just because he was a curse breaker for Gringotts, it didn't mean he was James freakin' Bond. It was just like Bill to have a woman in his room this early in the evening.

"What?" The door opened, revealing the eldest of the Weasley brothers clad only in a bed sheet and a frown. The frown quickly dissipated, though, as he realized who had interrupted him, "Oh, Charlie, what's up?"

"Bill, what the hell are you doing?" Charlie glimpsed the form of a busty blonde woman under Bill's covers, pouting most likely. "Didn't you get Dumbledore's letter?"

Bill blinked at him, "Well, yeah, but I figured that I could sit this round out and let you handle it. You're a big lad, I'm sure you'll be fine." He patted Charlie on the shoulder and grinned craftily, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to…"

The last thing Charlie heard was a high-pitched giggle before the door closed on him. _Okay, so Bill is out of the picture…_ Charlie looked at his watch. The little hand was on the 10 and the big one on the 6. Letting out a sigh, he nearly missed the sound of another door closing. Charlie turned to look for the origin of the sound, and came face to face with the porcelain mask of a fox.

For a moment in time, Charlie's heart stopped in terror. _A death eater? Here?_ Thatwas the first coherent thought that ran through his brain. The 'death eater' didn't look so calm either, considering he had sprang back two yards and was now in a stance originating from the martial arts. Once he had a clear view of his opponent, though, the masked man had straightened up.

"Ah, Charlie," He bowed, "I was hoping to run into you."

"Wha-?" Charlie gaped.

"Surprised?" The man was a few feet away and had extended his hand in a greeting, "I figured as much. We already met. I am Yuubi-san, remember?"

"Yuubi-san?" Charlie took his hand cautiously, looking the other man up and down. This man did not at all resemble the boy they had met on the streets. This man was tall and had short, blonde hair.

"Yes, this is my true form." The eyes behind the slits in the mask curved into happy arches. He released Charlie's hand, "I can change the way others see me at will for an amount of time."

"Why are you telling me this?" The red head was still suspicious.

"I can see you don't trust me, it's written all over your face." Yuubi-san placed a hand on his hip, peering at him. He waved it off and began to make hand signals.

Charlie raised his eyebrows, what the hell was he doing? Some kind of crazy sign language maybe? A cloud of smoke engulfed the man and the tall Yuubi-san was gone, replaced by the Yuubi-san from earlier that evening.

_Nope… Definitely not sign language_…

-------------------- ------------------------- ------------------------ ----------------- -

It was with an infinite amusement that Naruto watched the different expressions on Charlie's face: first confusion, then amazement, finally acceptance. With a resigned sigh, the red haired man motioned for Naruto to follow him and turned and walked off down the hallway. Naruto followed after him with all the grace of the expert ninja he was.

They walked in silence until Charlie opened the door to the pub. The room was filled with smoke from cigarettes and pipes and the chatter of the night crowd. Charlie took a place near the back of the room, where it was quieter, and motioned for him to sit across from him.

For the next hour, Charlie asked the questions, and Naruto answered them to the best extent possible. Finally Charlie sat back in his chair and looked at Naruto, "I have one last question."

"And what's that?" The ninja glanced nervously at the clock. He wished that Charlie would stop looking at him like that, it made him feel uncomfortable.

"What exactly is your relationship with Sasuke?"

"EH?" Naruto was caught off guard, and his face was brighter than a cherry tomato. Quickly, he regained his composure and managed to sputter indignantly, "W-what do you mean by that?"

"I want to know if your relationship is purely platonic, or if you are romantically involved." Charlie watched with an almost morbid fascination as the Anbu squirmed under his unwavering glare.

"Well…" Naruto began. He was unsure about how much he wanted to tell this man. In the end it was always better to tell the truth, Iruka had told him that. So in a style unfitting for an Anbu captain, he told Charlie, "I'm not sure what our 'relationship' is. But why do you want to know anyway?"

"No reason." Charlie said truthfully. "But you've got to be able to trust him, right? I mean, you can't stay hiding behind a mask all the time. And I'm sure this isn't what you really look like."

"I suppose…" Naruto let the automatic reply roll over his tongue and out into the conversation. A strong urge to leave had taken hold of him in light of the recent topic of conversation, so he stood and bowed slightly to Charlie, "If you will excuse me, Charlie-san, I feel it is time for me to retire for tonight. Maybe we'll encounter each other some time in the future, goodnight."

--010101000111010101010100101010101010101010101010101010100101011

Charlie Weasley sat in the pub for a while longer after Yuubi-san had left. Many things were buzzing through his head in no particular fashion. Suddenly he remembered something.

With much swearing the man leaned dejectedly back into his chair. "We're leaving tomorrow for home and from there to the Quidditch world cup… There's no way Yuubi-san will know that…" If only he had asked for the stranger's room number, or phone, or address! Perhaps even an email address (whatever the hell _that_ was!).

010000101110101010101001010101010110101100

Naruto closed the door to his room with a click and sighed, releasing his justu. Once again he was an anbu captain. Ruefully he smiled under the mask, glaring at the reflection.

"Masks upon masks, sometimes I wonder who I really am underneath them all."

"Me too." A voice commented from across the room.

**TBC!**

**Okies! Hope you all liked it -big shiny eyes- **OHMIGOD! Naru's caught talking to himself! What'll we dooo? Next time the Weasley's, Harry and Hermione pack up and head off to the Quidditch World Cup! W00t! I don't mean to make the chapters go so slow, sorry, hopefully I'll get better at that.

xDD

If I'm lucky I'll get the next chapter up after this within two weeks or so, next week is finals and the this week is studying for finals XDDD –dies-

Please review! -begs-


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for the reviews last time, everyone! teehee Sorry it took me so long to update, geez, plot bunnies are hard to catch.

CHAPTER FIVE!

Recap:

_Well, lemme see… Kyuu just explained the solstice. Naruto spoke with Charlie. Bill got it on with a blonde chick, we'll call her Vanessa for now (Bill's such a pimp). And now Charlie is all 'bleck, we leave tomorrow for the QWC (quidditch world cup)' well, actually, to clear things up: they leave for the burrow on Thursday and actually set out for the QWC on Saturday… more will be explained later in the chapter.. XDD I hope everyone reads the recap… OH! And I almost forgot where we left off! It seems someone is listening in on Naru's conversation with himself!_

Now onto the ACTUAL chapter!

"_Me too"_

Naruto glanced to his right and found the source of the voice lounging on his bed. "How long have you been awake?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Six, maybe seven minutes." Uchiha Sasuke pulled himself into a sitting position and turned to face the ANBU. Silence spread between them. Sasuke stared intently at the masked Naruto, who gazed back.

"Something on your mind?" Naruto prompted him.

"You infuriate me." Sasuke stated bluntly, his hands resting under his chin neatly as his dark eyes glinted from beneath his bangs.

"I infuriate a lot of people." Naruto stretched, and moved to sit on a chair near the mirror and across from Sasuke. "Any particular reason why?"

"I have no idea… Maybe I just don't trust people who are always wearing masks to hide their true faces." Sasuke glared meaningfully at the ANBU.

"If you thought that was supposed to make me take off my mask then I'm afraid you're going to be sorely disappointed." Naruto's eyes grinned at him mockingly.

Sasuke sighed and stood, "That's what I thought you'd say. Anyway I can change your mind?"

Naruto thought for a moment. A grin spread across his face, and he leaned back in his chair, stretching out his legs in a flirtatious fashion.

"Tell you what, if you can get this mask off of me, I'll tell you who I am." He declared.

Sasuke smirked and nodded, taking the challenge. He stopped before exiting when the ANBU said something.

"What did you say?" Sasuke asked.

"Get a hearing aide, dope." The ANBU laughed and stood, crossing the room, "You're going to be an ANBU soon, most of the other captains don't repeat themselves twice." He clapped a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and winked, "But hey, you're cute, so I'll say it again: Be up early tomorrow, the Weasley's are headed for the Quidditch World Cup and Harry's going with them." Naruto pushed a bewildered Sasuke out the door with a "G'night, Uchiha-san!"

"Wait, did you just call me _cute?_" Sasuke asked indignantly, but the only reply was the click of the door locking.

I've said it once, and I'll say it again. It is very unwise to call an Uchiha _cute_. Well, maybe I haven't said those exact words, but hell, it's the truth. As Sasuke went into his room and undressed for bed, he began a plan of action to let Yuubi-san know of his mistake. Once and for all, Yuubi-san would know that Uchiha's are NOT cute.

**You are such a flirt. **Kyuubi commented as Naruto stripped off his ANBU gear.

_What do you mean?_ Naruto asked carefully.

**For gods sake, Naru, **Kyuubi used his pet name, **you called him _cute._**

_What's so bad about that? _

**Uchiha's are not cute.** Kyuubi informed him.

_Okay, so I called him cute, what's he gonna do?_ Naruto scoffed.

It was moderately amusing to hear the nine-tailed fox sigh, **Kit, I don't know how his mind works, but it won't be anything good. **

_Hmph, whatever. _Naruto searched through his bag until he found a rather worn and tattered old hat.

**You still have that thing? **

_Yes, and I like my hat, so back off, you grumpy ole fox!_ Naruto snorted and curled into a ball under his sheets, cuddling the hat to his chest.

The reply was lost as Naruto fell into a light sleep.

The next morning was a buzz of activity and noise as the Weasleys and Harry and Hermione began to load their things into the back of a magical corvette Arthur had won in a lottery.

Charlie was looking around uneasily. Bill came up to him and asked if anything was wrong, then ducked behind him as a blonde witch walked by, looking teary-eyed.

"I'm just looking for Yuubi-san and Sasuke, they don't know we're leaving today." Charlie scanned over the crowd again. "What are you doing?"

"Hiding from Vanessa, she doesn't know the meaning of a one-night-stand." Bill shuddered.

"Hey, have you seen Sasuke?" Ginny tugged on Charlie's sleeve.

"No, when did you meet him?" Charlie looked at her in surprise.

"I'm a Weasley. I was with the group in Diagon Alley. I didn't exactly stand out, but I still saw him!" Ginny huffed.

"There he is!" Bill exclaimed, pointing to the other side of the room where Sasuke had just emerged, followed by the long-haired boy with sunglasses known as Yuubi-san.

"And Yuubi-san is with him!" Charlie added happily.

"How does he remember names like that?" Ginny whispered to Bill.

"Don't know, I've heard he has connections with the Authoress." Bill whispered back.

"Oh, of course!" Ginny nodded in agreement.

It seemed the pair had spotted them, because Yuubi-san waved enthusiastically and dragged Sasuke over to where they were standing.

"Hey! I'm glad we caught you," Charlie said, "I meant to tell you last night that we're leaving for our house and then we're going on to the QWC!"

"Charlie, remind me how you know him?" Bill held out a hand in greeting, which Yuubi-san shook.

"Ginny, can you go see if Dad needs anymore help?" Charlie asked his sister politely.

"Fine, I can tell when I'm not wanted." The girl tromped off.

"Yuubi-san is the guard for the games this year." Charlie told Bill matter-of-factly.

"Oh, well that's good." Bill said lamely, then looked at Sasuke suspiciously, "So why are you here? You another guard like him?"

Sasuke didn't like his tone of voice and was about to reply venomously, but was cut off by Yuubi-san. "He's the new assistant for the defense against the dark arts teacher."

"Wow, so it looks like you're the one stuck with Mad-eye Moody." Bill whistled.

"Hey, would you like to come to the QWC with us?" Charlie offered, "We have two extra tickets, they were supposed to be for my mother and Bill's girlfriend. But mom doesn't like large crowds and Bill cheated on his girlfriend and she found out and then she broke up with him."

"Sure." Yuubi-san agreed and Sasuke glared at him.

"Can I speak with you for a moment?" he growled.

"Sure, what's up?" Yuubi-san moved over towards an empty side of the room.

"Are you mad?" Sasuke snarled, "We don't even know these people and you're already agreeing to go to god knows where and watch Qwidditch or whatever the hell it is!"

"Calm yourself, Uchiha-san. Harry's going with them, have you forgotten your responsibility to him already?" Yuubi-san spoke with authority, looking into Sasuke's eyes.

"No." Sasuke looked away. The ANBU captain's bright-blue eyes felt like they were looking into his soul and he didn't like that.

"Good," Yuubi-san turned back to Charlie, "When do we leave?"

**BLEH**

That was a painful chapter to write

Hope you all liked it, though. –teehee- …


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, more yaoi in this chapter, I hope V.vUUU

CHAPTER SIX wow! … I lost count…

"_Japanese"_

Regular good ole English

**Kyuubi speaking**

_Naruto thinking… (no apostrophes) _

**--------**

Sasuke was in awe at the sheer volume of people that could fit into the Weasley's Corvette. The beaten-up heap of metal hadn't looked like much on the outside, but one by one the Weasley's, Harry and Hermione entered into the car and were hidden by the tinted windows on the outside. Yuubi-san laughed at his shocked expression.

"What?" He asked defensively, "Haven't you ever seen someone surprised before?"

"I've seen someone, Sasuke, but never you." The ANBU sniggered and entered the car after the others.

"What happened to 'Uchiha-san'…?" Sasuke shook off the sudden change in formality and turned his attention to the car.

It seemed to him (Sasuke) that the car was under some kind of advanced jutsu he had never seen before. When he had stepped from the street into the corvette, he found the inside of the car to be much roomier. The interior mimicked the inside of a stretch limo.

Sasuke had picked up a magazine the other day and had read something about a 'stretch limo' and decided he liked the term, even if he wasn't sure of its meaning. He kept this bit of information to himself, though.

Everyone in the car seemed to be elated at the thought of being in the car. They kept announcing how wonderful it was and how cool this trip was going to be. Sasuke almost asked what they were doing sitting in the car, didn't they need to get going?

While being from the village hidden in the leaves did give Sasuke an advantage of superior skills and strength, it did not present the luxuries of cars. If there was anywhere you needed to go in Konoha, then you would just transport yourself there, or just walk/run/jump. Even though Sasuke was one of the top jounin, had mastered the element of fire and managed to survive a whole day of clothes shopping with Maito Gai, he had no idea how a car actually worked.

So when Arthur revved up the engine and took off down the street; quite understandably, Sasuke's first reaction was to tuck his legs up from the vibrating floorboards and grab on to the first thing within reach, which happened to be Yuubi-san.

Before I can continue with this story, there is an issue that I must address. When a ninja graduates from the academy, he or she is expected to have mastered at least two languages that where not their own native tongue. In Sasuke's case, he had chosen English and French, the first two languages on the list. Naruto however, had mastered most of the spoken languages because of the Kyuubi and its vast knowledge.

During Sasuke's stay at the Leaky Cauldron, he had not spoken a word of Japanese, not that his stay was a terribly long one.

Now however, this was a different matter.

"_What the hell was that! Why are we shaking! Are we under attack! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" _A slew of Japanese poured from his lips.

Naruto was amused to see confusion on Sasuke's face when he entered the car. But when the car actually _started_, that was pure gold. Naruto had dealt in other matters in this world before and was used to the cars, but Sasuke obviously hadn't.

Everyone in the car looked at Sasuke strangely, then they looked at Naruto, then they looked at the death grip Sasuke had on his shirt.

"Sorry, he hasn't actually ridden in a car before." Naruto apologized to the watchers and spoke gently into Sasuke's ear. "_Chill, Uchiha-san. It's only the car, they're supposed to make noise and vibrate around."_ Sasuke still looked a little bit unsure, but he put his feet back onto the floor.

"You can release my shirt now," Naruto suggested and Sasuke let go off him immediately and looked away with a red face.

"Wow, so you've never ridden in a car before?" Harry looked at Sasuke with amazement.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted.

"_You know, Uchiha-san," _Naruto remarked to him, "_if you're still nervous you can cuddle up to me, I'll keep you safe._"

What had come over him, Naruto had no clue. Maybe he had been spending too much time with Kakashi over at Iruka's apartment. Maybe he had been spending too much time inventing ideas to help Jiraiya write Icha Icha Paradise. Maybe it was something in the air.

Whatever it was, he was in for it later tonight when he and Sasuke would be alone. That much he could be sure of. The statement made earlier was upgraded into a promise when the Uchiha heir turned to glare at him.

"It was a joke, I swear!" Naruto held up his hands and grinned disarmingly.

"…" Sasuke looked away and Naruto was pleasantly surprised to see his pale cheeks colored red.

"So…" it was Mione who broke the silence minutes later. "You were speaking Japanese, right?"

"Ya." Naruto smiled and Sasuke inclined his head slightly, "Good ear."

"So you two are from Japan?" She prompted.

Sasuke didn't look like he was going to answer her question, so Naruto kicked him and indicated at Mione in a way that said 'answer her'.

Sasuke glared daggers at him, 'why don't you?'

"You're going to be a teacher soon, you need to get used to answering questions." Naruto finally said, not looking away from Sasuke's glare.

"I'm not a teacher yet, and that's a weak excuse." Sasuke glared harder at him.

"AND _I_ outrank you. Do it." Naruto said with finality. It was true: Sasuke was only a jounin on his way to become ANBU, but Naruto already was a captain.

Sasuke had no answer to that and he gasped in fury when Naruto snapped his fingers at him in a bossy fashion 'Hop to it'.

"Yes." He finally ground out. "We're from Japan."

"What did you mean when you said 'I outrank you'?" Ginny turned her wide and supposedly innocent eyes on Naruto. He was strongly reminded of Konohamaru.

"Nothing that will affect your livelihood." Naruto smiled mysteriously.

"Hold on, everyone!" Arthur's voice cried from the front, "I'm kicking this baby into hyper-drive."

"Hyper-what?" Naruto was thrown back against the leather seats as the car suddenly jerked forwards.

Unfortunately, no one else had known of this new-fangled 'hyper-drive' either. It didn't help that limos are not equipped with the proper safety equipment (seatbelts) that their less snazzy and shorter counterparts contain. So according to the laws of gravity they should have flew backwards towards the end of the car where Naruto and Sasuke where sitting.

Well, once again the laws of gravity do not let us down… or would_ up_ be a more appropriate word? (Several bad puns and heavy bricks/tomatoes later…)

Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys found themselves being flung towards the back of the limo. Naruto acted on instinct. Flinging one leg up, he managed to flip himself over to his left and avoid the mass of people hitting him. He looked where he had rolled to and found a very surprised looking Sasuke under him.

The car sped up.

Naruto was having a very hard time keeping himself from squishing the Uchiha flat underneath him from all the forces at work here. He put out both arms to steady himself and was horrified to see the standard ANBU armguards on both his arms. The shock from the hyper-drive must have shocked him out of the henge.

Sasuke was looking at him strangely. Naruto gasped. Oh god, had he put his mask on this morning before he put on the jutsu? There would be nothing protecting his identity, the scars and his hair would give him away. Naruto's stomach felt sick with tension.

"Used up too much Chakra? Yuubi-san?" Sasuke's eyes glinted maliciously.

Well, apart from the glinting, Naruto felt somewhat put at ease. Sasuke had called him Yuubi-san instead of Naruto; he must have put his mask on today after all.

The car was accelerating and Naruto was being pushed forward due to the increase of speed. His arms were beginning to cramp up.

The other passengers in the car were all watching in interest, having sorted out a way to make themselves comfortable in the tangle of arms and legs. They had witnessed the change in Yuubi-san's appearance and were surprised by it, save for Charlie, who had already seen it.

The pair of shinobi were oblivious to their spectators.

Sasuke saw his chance and moved his hand up to take off the ANBU mask.

Naruto was panicking, he knew what Sasuke was doing and couldn't stop him without moving his hands. If he moved his hands, gravity would force him into Sasuke and there would e some unpleasant medical bills, and Naruto didn't feel like explaining the incident to Tsunade in their mission report.

Sasuke, in the meantime noticed the hitch in Naruto's breath. Smirking, he ran his fingers through the ANBU's golden hair, searching for the knot to untie the mask. Yuubi-san's hair was softer than he had expected.

Naruto gulped when he felt slender fingers running through his hair. When those same fingers found the knot holding his mask in place, he jerked slightly forwards. And when those fingers undid the knot, Naruto did the first thing that came to mind. He dropped to his elbows, covered the Uchiha's eyes and _kissed_ him as the mask flew into the back window.

Sasuke had tasted victory for a moment when he had finally found the knot and untied it. He didn't even get a chance to glimpse the person behind the mask before his vision was obscured and a different taste entered into his mouth. He vaguely heard a _clunk _in the background as something hit the back windshield.

The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione gasped in unison. Ron tried to cover Ginny's eyes but his hands were batted away. Hermione was holding a red handkerchief to her nose and Harry was experiencing some 'technical difficulties'.

Yuubi-san was younger than Charlie had expected. He was handsome, too. Three whisker-like marks were visible on the side of his face and the dull pink gracing his cheeks accented the blueness of his half-closed eyes.

Naruto's mind, which had been previously on full alert and buzzing with adrenaline and with ideas, had drawn a blank. He was kissing _Uchiha Sasuke._ _HE_ was kissing Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto decided he could die happily now, and considering he probably would die a few moments after he stopped kissing _Uchiha Sasuke_, it was a good decision.

The car came to an abrupt halt, throwing them all forward. Naruto could finally move and flipped his body so he was once again on top of the Uchiha heir. This time, instead of covering his eyes with his gloved hands, he pulled the other's shirt over his face and made a made dash for his mask.

Arthur Weasley got out of the corvette nursing a bump on is head, a souvenir from his wife for using the hyper drive, and opened the back door of the car. "We're he—OOF!" He was bowled over by a boy with bright yellow hair and blue eyes as he came stampeding out of the back seat.

"Sorry Arthur-san!" the boy cried, trying to fix a mask to his face, but failing because of the broken strap on the right side. Arthur stood to the side as Sasuke shot out from the car after the boy with the rest of the car's occupants hot on his heels.

"Well," Arthur fixed his glasses on his nose and put an arm around his wife, "looks like they're getting along well enough…"

DUN DUN DUNN! -forebodingmusic! -

Hope you all enjoyed this! LEAVE MORE REVIEWS! I have about twice as many hits and favorites/watches than reviews! (is totally greedy)

**All your review are belong to us!**


	7. Chapter 7

**EDIT: **Mkay, so I finished the chapter! Yay me! I finally got them to the QWC! So hopefull it'll be easier to write from here XDD

Wow… you guys don't disappoint, I woke up this morning at nine, took an hour long grueling walk with my mother and came back and immediately passed out on the bed, but when _did wake up two hours later _I stumbled out into the kitchen and said hello to my parents before taking a shower and contentedly getting on my computer. Normal day. EXCEPT when I got onto YIM I looked at the bottom of the screen and Low and behold! **_EIGHTEEN NEW MAIL MESSAGES!_** I am ecstatic! THANK YOU ALL SOOO MUCH! (I'm such a review whore) X33

**To GHOST: Even though I'm sure you haven't the stupidity to come back and read my story, I thought I might use you as an example for all other flamers. I understand your dislike of yaoi, and if you are a homophobe, that's okay too, but please, PLEASE stay the hell away from my story and other yaoi stories if you don't like them, I will continue writing whether you like it or not! Try to find a spot in your brain to jam in the fact that others have DIFFERING OPINIONS! _OhMyGod NO FUCKING WAY! _**

**To all other potential flamers, I will address you personally in upcoming chapters for others amusement. And please, don't use a lame nickname like Ghost, I'm sorry, but I can't take offense from some geek on the internet without a real name. **

**Chapter SEVEN **

_Recap: Omigod! Sasuke is afraid of cars? Naruto flirted and Ginny asked questions leading up to Sasuke getting kicked in the shin. Arthur tested out the Hyper Drive on his new car and got hit for it by Mrs. Weasley. Naruto and Sasuke finally kissed for the second time! (not that the first time was anything special, after all, they were only students in the academy and it was an 'accident' that would put a twinkle in many a fangirl/boy 's eye for many years to come!) Now Naruto is running from Sasuke and his mask's strap is broken! Oh noez! What'll he dooo?_

The story:

Sasuke launched himself at the blonde shinobi. Naruto parried by jumping over him, kicking him in the back and then landing gracefully on the lawn while Sasuke landed unceremoniously on the ground a few feet away.

"You broke my mask, you bastard!" he kept the porcelain visage in place with one hand and pointed accusingly at Sasuke with the other.

"What!" Sasuke spat out a mouth of grass and jumped to his feet, "I don't see any cracks! And you—you _kissed_ me!" he hissed.

"I'm an ANBU." Naruto looked at him despairingly and indicating the broken strap on the side of his mask, "My mask is my trade. If it's broken, I can't work." Naruto's eyes slanted suggestively, "If I remember correctly, you didn't exactly _reject _my kiss, _Sasuke_." He said the Uchiha's name one syllable at a time.

Sasuke reddened. With a snarl he lunged at Naruto, catching him off-guard and pinned him to the ground. Sasuke reached for the mask but his hand was caught by Naruto's free hand. Pulling the Uchiha sideways, Naruto rolled on top of him and pinned one hand above Sasuke's head. The other he trapped underneath his knee.

The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione watched amusedly from the sidelines. To the women (Hermione, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley) it was painfully obvious of Naruto's attraction to Sasuke, and they thought it was romantic how said boys were interacting with each other. In other words: they were closet yaoi fangirls.

The men enjoyed the fact that they were fighting. I mean, seriously, who doesn't enjoy a good fight!

And although he would never admit it, Harry enjoyed the fact that Naruto was on top of Sasuke. Very hawt.

Meanwhile, the fighting had ensued and after action-filled minutes had passed and the dust had settled, Naruto sat cross-legged on top of a hog-tied and very pissed looking Uchiha.

"Feel better?" He asked.

Sasuke answered with a slew of colorful words that would have made his mother very angry if she had been alive to hear him.

"Didn't think so." Naruto sighed.

-------

Molly and Arthur Weasley sat in their kitchen that night and talked. They had managed to calm Sasuke down and fix Yuubi-san's mask without too much name-calling.

"Arthur?"

"Yeah, Molly?"

"Do you think Sasuke can handle being a DADA teacher? I mean, he's still a child himself." Molly fussed around the kitchen with nervous energy.

"Molly, I'm sure he'll adapt." Arthur fiddled with his tea cup.

"If you're sure." Molly didn't sound convinced.

"I'm not." Arthur sounded tired.

"Is something wrong?" Mrs. Weasley went over and put a comforting arm around her husband.

"Oh, it's nothing." He sighed.

"If you say so dear…" Molly sighed.

----

Sasuke looked up at the poster-plastered ceiling from his corner of Ron's room. Yuubi-san had (thankfully) been put in the twin boy's room to sleep for the night. Sasuke tried to comfort himself with this thought as he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but a lingering thought kept him awake.

Annoyed, Sasuke rolled into a more comfortable position. _I'm **glad** Yuubi-san isn't in the same room as me… _

The thought struck again. This time it was a little more forceful. Sasuke felt his resolve weakening by the second. _Well, he is around my age… And a good kisser… Not to mention an ANBU captain, so I wouldn't have to worry about him getting captured by any enemy ninja without a fight… _

"Dammit…" Sasuke moaned softly through the covers. _I have a crush on my ANBU partner whose face I've never even **seen.**_

_Tap. Tap._ Sasuke snapped to attention. The noise came again, from the window.

With all the skills a ninja of his rank possessed, Sasuke crept over the sleeping bodies of Ron and Harry. Silently, he eased the window open.

"What the hell do you want?" He hissed at the porcelain face of the very man he had been trying to forget about.

"Get dressed." Yuubi-san ordered.

"Wha—why?" Sasuke looked down at his wardrobe; a black tank top and boxers.

"Training." The ANBU replied from his position outside the window, "Meet me in the backyard in 5 minutes." Yuubi-san let his hold on the window ledge go and disappeared in a puff of smoke without another word.

Sasuke swore under his breath. It was typical that Yuubi-san would want to train at this time of night, after all, before you could be an ANBU you had to be a jounin. Everyone knows that most jounin are a little eccentric, with the exception of Sasuke; Uchiha's aren't eccentric. (Okay, so maybe _some_ of them are, but the majority aren't.)

He was dressed in one minute; putting on black pants and sandals doesn't take a lot of time. The whole time, thoughts and memories of the mysterious ANBU floated around his head. The kiss Yuubi-san had given him in the car was particularly vivid in his mind's eye. Sasuke felt his face redden when he realized that he had, in fact, gotten the ANBU mask off of the man and had been distracted by the kiss. So Sasuke didn't hold it against Yuubi-san for not telling what his real name was. _Next time, _Sasuke thought sourly, _next time I **will** find out who you are. _

Harry turned over in his sleep and rolled on top of the remainder of Sasuke's ninja clothing. It would be too time consuming to get everything out from under the sleeping teen, so Sasuke climbed out of the window without it. Two minutes later he stood in front of the fully clad ANBU captain.

---

Naruto took on an air of boredom and surveyed his fingernails and straightened his gloves. "You're late." He purred.

He heard the Uchiha prodigy splutter in indignation. "What! I was here in three minutes when you gave me five!"

Naruto smirked and shifted the bundle of clothing he had brought with him in his arms, "Three minutes is long enough to be killed. Here." He thrust the bundle into the scowling Uchiha's arms.

"A uniform?" Sasuke noticed the white armguards and leg-guards and the white vest of ANBU; but it was missing something. "Where's the mask?"

Naruto nodded sagely, "So you noticed. I am to be your master and guardian as you become an ANBU. I suppose if we were villagers I would be called your role model."

Sasuke frowned, _is he trying to change the subject?_ "How old are you anyway? And what does that have to do with there being no mask?"

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt if I told you my age." Naruto mused, "I'm twenty-three. And as far as the mask goes, you'll get it when I think you're ready for it."

Sasuke blinked, Yuubi-san was two years older than him. So it meant that Yuubi-san was someone one or two years ahead of his graduating class. Sasuke stored this information in the back of his head for later use. "So what now?"

"Now, we train." Naruto indicated he should set the clothing aside. Sasuke did so and faced him.

-------

ANBU training, Sasuke realized two solid hours later as he was doing sit-ups, _hurt._ All of the muscles in the Uchiha's arms, legs and stomach screamed for him to stop and rest. Yuubi-san must have noticed his lack of enthusiasm and commented, "There will be no reprieve on a mission." The blue eyes behind the mask softened, "The training only gets harder from here."

"I know." The voice that replied was cracked and horse from lack of water.

Yuubi-san surveyed him for a moment. "Come on." He walked over and helped Sasuke to his feet. "We're done for today, tomorrow we'll take off so your body has a chance to get used to the activity." Sasuke let the ANBU help him up, "Can you walk?"

That was a silly question to ask, Sasuke thought, of course he could walk! Obviously his legs disagreed. When he took a step forward, his knees buckled. Instead of falling, though, Sasuke found himself cushioned against Yuubi-san's chest.

"I guess not." The ANBU chuckled, "Don't worry, it happens to everyone."

"Did it happen to you?" Sasuke asked, fighting his embarrassment.

"Yeah, but I didn't have a good-looking ANBU captain to carry me back to my room." Yuubi-san picked Sasuke up bridal style and began to walk towards the house.

"I disagree." Sasuke muttered, trying not to look at him.

"What?"

"I haven't seen your face yet, so how do I know whether you're good-looking or not." Sasuke hmph-ed and hoped fervently that Yuubi-san's eyes weren't as sharp in the night as they were in the day. His face felt like it was on fire.

"True, true." Yuubi-san agreed, "But there's plenty of time for that later."

--------

(A/N: I lost track of what day we were on, so I'm being a lazy-ass and skipping to Saturday morning…)

Naruto had deposited Sasuke in Ron's room and had no sooner returned to the twins' room before a loud and exuberant voice made itself known on the other side of the door.

"Wake up--!" Molly Weasley chirped, "You boys need to get going so you can make it to the Cup!"

Naruto resignedly got off the ground with a grunt and made the hand signals for the genjutsu. Fred and George awoke to find a brunette walking out the door.

_at the hill_

Naruto glanced over at Sasuke. The younger man looked like he was going to pass out any minute now.

_Maybe I shouldn't have pushed him so hard yesterday…_

**Bah, you did the right thing, **Kyuubi rumbledtiredly, **how else do you train someone to be able to function properly with only a few hours of rest?**

_True, but I still don't like doing this to him_, Naruto slowed his pace slightly to walk behind the Uchiha up the hill in case he fell backwards.

**Don't let your compassion for him get in the way, **Kyuubi's temper had a short fuse as of late. Naruto suspected it had to do with the solstice being so near.

_I know, I know. _Naruto sighed as they reached the top of the hill and the Weasleys spread out and began searching for something. A shout rang out and Naruto snapped his head in the direction of it, his senses on high alert.

It was only a man with a beard, followed by a taller boy. They introduced themselves as the Diggory's; Amos and Cedric Diggory. Amos was holding a moldy boot in his hand. Naruto wasn't sure why at the moment, but he found out soon enough.

----

_Ow…ow ow ow ow ow ow… _Sasuke was a mass of soreness. It didn't help matters when Arthur had instructed them all to grab onto a boot that looked like it should be in a toxic waste dump only to find that not only did the boot feel slimy under his fingers, it also made him feel like he was being sucked through a bendy straw. Suddenly he was thrown forward. Sasuke's already sore leg muscles didn't like this action and he fell, closing his eyes for the impact.

Sasuke hit the ground with a thud; but something was wrong. The ground shouldn't have rock-hard abs and the ground _definitely_ shouldn't be breathing.

"_Trouble walking?"_ Yuubi-san taunted.

"Shuddap." Sasuke snarled.

--

Their tent, Sasuke decided, was as freakish as the car. "I appreciate everything you've done for me, Arthur, but I think I'll just sleep outside." He tried to be as polite as possible.

"But it's going to be freezing out there!" Mr. Weasley cried.

"It'll be fine, Arthur-san." Yuubi-san interjected, putting a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "I'll make sure he doesn't freeze or do something stupid."

Arthur looked like he was going to argue but he sighed, "Do what you want."

Yuubi-san followed Sasuke through the tent flap. Sasuke glared at him, "_I resent that."_

"_It's true, though. You might do something stupid if you're left alone, and we can't have that."_ Yuubi-san smiled and brushed a strand of brown hair out of his eyes.

The makeshift tent was set up in a matter of minutes. Yuubi-san instructed him to go and scan the surrounding area and memorize its layout. Sasuke nodded and set out, activating his double Sharingan.

--

Naruto let his genjutsu go as soon as Sasuke left. A cold layer of sweat covered his body.

_It's getting harder to control my chakra…_ He thought silently to himself.

Kyuubi wasn't speaking, but Naruto could feel the kitsune shifting sleepily in the back of his mind.

Night came on fairly quickly. As promised, Naruto and Sasuke didn't train that night, but Naruto didn't let himself go to sleep until he was sure Sasuke was out for the night. He slept in his ANBU form, therefore he couldn't allow himself to be caught off-guard for a moment. All in all, when Sunday rolled around Naruto was exhausted, cold and damp from the condensation of the morning.

Naruto didn't like the prospect of the solstice at all. If he was already tired from missing two nights of sleep, then it meant he was either _very_ out-of-shape or on a down-hill slope to disaster. Naruto knew it wasn't the former, so it must be the latter. With a tired sigh, Naruto took off his mask, enjoying the feeling of the coolness on his face—it gets stuffy under a mask.

Sasuke stirred and Naruto began to make hand-signs for his genjutsu. When Sasuke turned his bleary eyes to Naruto he saw a brown-haired man. Naruto put a hand to his lips and crawled over the Uchiha and whispered in his ear, "_I'm going to go look around, see you at breakfast._"

"_Wha time s'it?" _Sasuke mumbled.

"_Five, they won't wake up for a bit, so feel free to sleep-in till around seven."_ Naruto said softly and pulled on Sasuke's blanket so it covered him more efficiently.

Sasuke nodded and whispered a barely audible, "_Thanks." _Then he closed his eyes. When he woke up two hours later he would not remember their conversation.

Naruto let his genjutsu fall—there was no sense in wasting chakra to walk among people who had no idea who he was. The ANBU mask had been set in the inside pocket of his bomber jacket—the Weasley's had been kind enough to outfit him with more 'muggle clothing' before they left for the QWC (A shirt, pants, jacket ect...)

A humming noise reached his ears and it grew louder as he walked between the tents. Before long it had become a dull roar and as Naruto maneuvered himself around an extravagant tent, he came face to face with a Bazaar. Everything was decked out in two colors: Burgundy or Green.

Naruto grinned, a mask would just bring unwanted attention, and a genjutsu would drain his energy; but no one said anything about a hat or scarf. He bought a large green scarf from a loud merchant and wrapped it around his face.

"If you pull on thees tassle," the merchant yelled over the noise of everyone else, "Eet weel be comftable een even desert, yees?"

Naruto thanked him and moments later stopped to buy an oversized green hat with a shamrock in it from another loud foreign merchant-girl. With the hat covering his hair and most of his forehead and the scarf covering the other two-thirds of his face—only leaving a vertical strip long enough for him to be able to see out—he was virtually incognito.

An hour later he finally made his way back to the tent, running into Sasuke on the way to the Weasley's tent. The Uchiha's hair was sticking up in all directions and Naruto laughed from behind the scarf.

"_Mornin' sunshine."_ He remarked and passed him into Arthur and co.'s tent where he was greeted by many chorus' of 'who are you?'

"Why, its me: Yuubi-san, the master of disguise!" Naruto's previous mood had disappeared and his normal good-humor had returned. To his amusement he heard Sasuke splutter in surprise behind him.

"What are you wearing?" his voice sounded croaky.

"Like it?" Naruto crinkled his eyes in a smile at him.

"You look ridiculous." Sasuke rasped.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked, "You don't sound so well."

"Here, have some tea." Ginny poured the steaming liquid and Sasuke looked at the proffered cup.

"Thanks." He croaked and sat don next to the red-headed girl looking a good-deal happier than Naruto had seen him for a time. Ginny blushed and giggled.

----Meanwhile… In Sasuke's mind----

_Tea tea tea tea tea tea_ _tea tea tea tea tea tea tea tea tea tea tea tea tea tea tea tea tea tea, **tea! Finally I have TEA! God bless that Ginny-girl! **This is the best fucking thing that has happened to me this entire trip…well, maybe the second-best thing…_

_----_

"Come on kids, the game starts in two hours, we need to be getting to our seats!" Arthur rubbed his hands together excitedly.

"Yeah, we got the best seats in the house!" Bill elbowed Naruto and winked, "So you rootin' for Ireland?"

"umm… Sure." Naruto said lamely.

"Atta boy!" Charlie slapped him on the back and headed out the tent, "Come on, we want to beat the crowds!"

**TO BE CONTINUED! **

Jeezus, that was a LONG CHAPTER! Hope you all liked it! Oh and

**READ THIS: THE WHOLE 'NARU'S EMOTIONS IN THE EARING' THING, NOT GONNNA HAPPEN, I GOT NOTHING FOR THAT PLOT, SO I'LL GO CHANGE THAT PART LATER, BUT PRETEND LIKE NARUTO NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THE EMOTIONS BEING IN THE EARING.**

_**OH, AND READ AND REVIEW! THANKS, YOU'RE ALL GREAT! D**_


	8. Chapter 8

I loved this review (though the reviewer will remain anonymous—you know who you are ;P), it just made me happy inside so I'm sharing it with all of you XDD:

_Yo. Aw, poor Sasuke. I know how that soreness is, but I don't think _

_I've EVER had it quite as bad as he's got it now. Give him a hug to make _

_him feel better! (mischevious giggle) At least he got his tea. Tea is _

_good. Tea makes the world go 'round. Really, where would Europe and Asia _

_be withOUT it? And America without their Boston Tea Party? Nowhere. _

_Because tea kicks ass._

**Are you guys ready for some ACTION? I hope so, cause this time around Naruto and Sasuke aren't going to be sitting around, today is Sunday and tomorrow the solstice begins! **

(And if I didn't make it obvious enough, _Italics_ is Japanese if it has apostrophes around it.) BD

So now chapter EIGHT BEGINS!

Sasuke was losing his voice.

"Maybe it was because you were sleeping outside." Arthur had suggested with a hint of superiority.

Sasuke had glared at him, but kept drinking his tea. From time to time he would glance at Yuubi-san. The ANBU looked ridiculous in the gigantic hat and scarf. He took another sip of the tea and glanced at the ANBU again, the hat and scarf were starting to grow on him.

Another sip. The hat and scarf combo actually looked pretty good with Yuubi-san's complexion.

Yet another sip. Sasuke took it back; the hat and scarf combo was HOT.

"Hey," he croaked, "what kind of tea is this?"

"I dunno, let me check." Ginny shuffled around behind her.

"You didn't even look at the wrapper before you put it in the water?" Charlie asked.

"No, I figured all tea tastes the same basically, so…" Ginny mumbled as she smoothed the wrapper she had crumpled up earlier. "It's in Romanian or something." She huffed and flung the paper at Charlie who held it up to the lamp for better light.

Charlie's eyebrows shot up into his hair-line. He spluttered and everyone in the tent looked at him strangely. He only laughed and said, "Ginny, this is an ancient Romanian wizard tea, made back in the middle ages."

"So…?" Ginny prompted him.

"So—," Charlie rolled his eyes as if the answer was obvious, "what you gave Sasuke was designed to amplify the feelings of the drinker towards the person they are attracted to."

"Why would anyone want to do that?" Ginny looked embarrassed.

"Well, a wizard in the middle ages—his name was Nicoli Amestris, I think—wanted to know if his lover was cheating on him, so he put a charm on his lovers tea; it makes you blush uncontrollably if your 'crush' talks to you." Charlie snickered and winked at Sasuke.

Sasuke spit the tea out. "Wha—?" his voice disappeared.

"Try not to talk; your voice needs time to heal." Bill shushed him, holding back chuckles.

Sasuke decided he would have to search for a jutsu that let one shoot daggers out of one's eyes.

--- ---- ---

The seats for the QWC were excellent. Naruto found himself grinning wildly as he leaned out of the window, trying to get a better look at the field.

"Uchiha-san! Come here and look at this! It's amazing!" Naruto looked back at the Uchiha.

"Call me Sasuke, I feel stupid when you call me 'Uchiha-san'." Sasuke was hiding behind his brochure. Naruto perked up at this, could the tea still be in effect? He had no time to come up with the solution because two wizards with blindingly blonde hair and a witch with equally bright locks came into the room. Sasuke peeked over his Quidditch brochure and glared.

"Malfoy." Naruto heard Ron mutter under his breath.

Thankfully, the scarf muffled Naruto's barely contained peals of laughter. Sasuke was looking at him strangely and he straightened up, trying to look as professional as possible. He almost dissolved into giggles as the Malfoys spotted Sasuke. Draco turned a shade paler while his father quickly pretended he hadn't noticed the dark-haired man.

Over the next hour Naruto didn't have a chance to speak to Sasuke, too many people were coming into the room and their introductions rang in Naruto's keen ears over and over again.

Finally, though, the match went underway and the crowd screamed its delight as the mascots were presented. First came the shimmering cloud of leprechauns which rained golden coins down on their heads. Ron eagerly stuffed handfuls of it into his pockets. Then came the Veelas. They paraded out onto the field in a seductive manner and then music began to play and they began to dance. The men in the stadium went wild, they hooted, screamed; Ron and Harry looked like they were considering jumping out of the box. Naruto blinked; sure, they were good-looking, but they really weren't that good at dancing.

Naruto walked over to Ginny and Hermione. "What's going on here?" He asked.

"No clue." Hermione waved a hand in Harry's face and Ginny shrugged. He was just about to ask another question when Harry jumped up and made a run for the window, a stupid grin on his face. But before he made it two feet, he was tackled to the ground by Sasuke.

"Get him." Sasuke rasped and pointed at the window. Ron was currently climbing onto the windowsill and was preparing to jump.

Naruto grabbed the teen by the back of his shirt and dragged him back to his seat. The music stopped and Ron looked blankly up at him. "What just happened?"

"Veelas." Arthur unplugged his ears. "They are supposed to be irresistible to men. I have no clue why they didn't affect you, Yuubi-san or you, Sasuke."

Naruto grinned, "I have my heart set on another, maybe that's why. Good call, by the way, Sasuke."

Sasuke blushed and mumbled something incoherent and then helped Harry to his feet. The blush didn't go unnoticed by the boy who lived and he looked from Sasuke to the ANBU standing a few feet away and his face broke into a grin. Harry said nothing, though; he saved the information to tell to Hermione and Ron when they were alone.

-----------------------------

The rest of the match was pretty boring for Sasuke. So he decided to look at the other people in the box. By 'other people' he meant Yuubi-san, but whatever. The way the ANBU moved was just amazing. It was like watching a lava flow, beautiful yet dangerous—Sasuke blinked, since when did he start thinking in metaphors?

The whole idea of being in a relationship was a new and unknown subject to him. In the academy he had been too busy living up to his family name to have any free time to date anyone—okay, that was a blatant lie, he had plenty of time, but the fan girls scared him. For his first twenty years of life, he was sure that he was asexual—well this proved him wrong.

"SASUKE—!" Yuubi-san was waving his gloved hand in front of Sasuke's face.

"What?" his voice was a whisper.

"You feel alright?" Yuubi-san touched his finger-tips to Sasuke's face—most ninja gloves don't have fingers. "You're burning up."

Sasuke could only nod. He was glad his voice didn't work—if it had, he was sure all that would have come out of his mouth would be a slew of gibberish.

Yuubi-san just smiled—it was the most amazing thing. His eyes would crinkle in the corners and his cerulean eyes would shine in the most brilliant way and Sasuke would be putty in his hands. "Good. The match is over, let's go."

------------------ ------------------------------

There were thousands of celebrations all over the miles of campsite; all of them were the same theme: Ireland.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, the twins, Bill, Charlie and Sasuke sat around the round table in the Weasley's gigantic tent. Yuubi-san surveyed them happily, still wearing the hat and scarf. Sasuke shot a glare at him—he wouldn't have had to play cards with the others if Yuubi-san hadn't made him.

Oh well, at least I'm being somewhat social, Sasuke thought morosely. A low boom caught Sasuke's attention and he stood. "I'm out." He rasped, throwing in his cards.

Sasuke walked over to Yuubi-san and put his mouth by the other's ear, "Did you hear that?" He whispered.

"Yeah." Yuubi-san's silky voice responded. "_Time to get in some practice. We don't have long."_

Sasuke followed him out of the tent. Moments later a tent five meters away burst into flame. Arthur appeared outside the tent with a crack and dashed in. Yuubi-san dashed for his mask and came out of his and Sasuke's make-shift tent with two katanas. While fixing his mask into place he tossed one to Sasuke.

"Can you use this?" He asked, referring to the sword and offering his scarf to the Uchiha-prodigy.

"Can fish breathe underwater?" Sasuke replied and took the proffered scarf and wrapped it around the lower part of his face in place of a mask.

Arthur and the others dashed out of the tent and while the children ran for the cover of the forest, Bill, Charlie and their father ran towards the sounds of the growing explosions.

"Sasuke, follow Harry!" Yuubi-san ordered over the noise, "If you need to contact me, use the earring." He tapped his left earlobe and dashed off after Arthur.

Sasuke scowled, he was missing out on all the action! A high-pitched scream reminded him of his task. He swore and ran towards the scream.

------------ ------- ------

"Arthur!" Naruto skidded to a halt next to Mr. Weasley, scaring the other ministry members surrounding him.

"It's alright, he's with me." Arthur assured them, looking stressed.

"Which are the ones you need taken care of?" Naruto asked.

"What…?" Arthur gaped at him.

Naruto sighed and repeated himself. "Oh, they're the ones in the masks, they're called deatheaters." Arthur pointed them out.

"Dead or alive?" Naruto readjusted his armguards.

"Excuse me?" Amos was part of the group.

The ANBU rolled his eyes, "Do you…"he pointed at the ministry members, "...Want THEM…" He pointed at the deatheaters, "…dead or ALIVE?"

"Well, we want to take them in for questioning, so…" Bill managed to splutter.

"All of them?" Naruto frowned.

"Preferably." Arthur cut in.

"Fine…"Naruto undid his katana and handed it to Charlie, "Do NOT lose this."

"What just happened?" Bill asked Charlie as Naruto disappeared into the shadows.

"I don't know." Charlie glanced at his watch, "Whoa! I had no idea it was that late!"

"What time is it?" Bill asked.

"Eleven thirty." Charlie replied and Bill whistled, "Tomorrow's almost upon us."

--- ---- ------------------------------------------- -------------

Nicollet cried in terror as the dark figures advanced on her. She was only eight years old! She was too young to die! Where her mother and father were, she had no clue. They had been lost in the mob of people running from the men in the masks.

The men were getting closer, one raised his wand and she scrambled backwards. Suddenly there was another dark figure. The others turned on this one and Nicollet closed her eyes. She heard something whip through the air and she felt water splatter on her arms. At least, she hoped it was water. Then it was silent.

"Are you okay?" A soft voice asked. She lifted her head and looked at the prettiest man she had ever seen. The man took out a piece of cloth and wiped away what she had thought was 'water'.

Nicollet sniffed and nodded tearfully. "Sasuke, is that you?" a female voice sounded through the clearing.

Sasuke stood and took Nicollet's hand and led her towards the voice. "Ginny, don't go back there, go it?" it became apparent that her rescuer couldn't speak in a normal tone; his voice was barely a whisper. "Where's Harry?"

Ginny, a red-haired girl—who Nicollet guess was older than her by a few years—took her hand and led her to a group of other children while answering Sasuke, "I don't know, we got separated."

Sasuke nodded and disappeared silently.

---- ----- -------------- ----------------------

The Uchiha swore silently in his head. _Where the hell could he be?_

Sasuke dodged through the rows of trees and spread out his chakra, searching for a group of three people. Finally he found them. Bounding over a fallen tree he reached a clearing. Loud bangs filled the area and wizards surrounded Harry, Ron and Hermione. Sasuke concentrated his chakra in his feet and dove at them, knocking the teens to the ground as the chorus of Stupify's was shouted.

----- ------------------------------ ----------

Arthur had called off the attack minutes later, and then the ministry officials had yelled and shouted for awhile about some ridiculous sign in the sky. When Sasuke had studied it closer, he had noticed the snake in the skull. Wrinkling his nose with distaste he looked around for Yuubi-san. The fact that everyone from the ministry was here meant the fight must be over. But he didn't see him anywhere.

"Arthur…" Sasuke tapped him on the shoulder, "Where is Yuubi-san?" Sasuke kept his voice even and tried to push back the feeling of dread coiling in his stomach.

"He showed up when the deatheaters were attacking and took them all out. After that He came back for his sword and took off, I don't know what he said, I think it was in Japanese…" Charlie answered for his father. "I may have gotten it wrong, but it looked like he was in pain."

"When was this?" Sasuke pulled the scarf down, revealing his face.

"It's…"Charlie looked at his watch, "twelve-thirty now, and so about half an hour ago?"

"I should find him." Sasuke nodded his thanks to Charlie and then disappeared from the clearing.

------- ------------- ------------------

Half an hour ago…

Naruto kicked the last masked man in the stomach and watched him drop. He was breathing harder than usual. He had a dull ache in his left temple that was growing in size and power.

The sudden realization hit him, _Kyu… What day is it?_

There was no reply from the demon.

_Kyu? _Still no reply. The dull throbbing had turned to a fierce, aching pain. He couldn't breathe; this damn mask was suffocating him. He managed to make his way back to Charlie, re-attained his katana and mumbled something about getting some fresh air and he'd be back by morning. Then he had fled.

The miles seemed to fall beneath his feet and finally Naruto fell. Ripping off his mask, he gasped as a fresh wave of pain washed over him. Time was lost to him, all he knew was pain.

For the second time in his life, Naruto felt completely alone and alienated. The fire in his head spread through his entire body and he curled into a ball and tried to block it out. His harsh gasps escaped through his teeth and resounded through the trees.

--- -------

Sasuke walked through the forest. Stopping, he pressed the earring in his left ear, "Where are you?" he asked.

At first there was nothing but static, then a roar ripped through his body, followed by a raw-throated yell of pain. Sasuke broke contact and bit his lip to stop himself from crying out. Blood trickled from his lower lip and down his chin.

--------------------- ------------------

Aw jeez, sorry Naruto and Sasuke! It'll get better, I promise! Sorry for taking so long to update O.o ! Love you all! –Heart-

READ AND REVIEW! And as always, if I'm being confusing, tell me!


	9. Chapter 9

**Current mood: _meh… my life is now complete, I have hugged… KAKASHI! -woot! ;P I went to an anime fest in Wichita over the weekend and I got to hug this person with a kickass Kakashi costume, I also hugged Rock Lee… I am such a nerd! XPPP_**

_The miles seemed to fall beneath his feet and finally Naruto fell. Ripping off his mask, he gasped as a fresh wave of pain washed over him. Time was lost to him, all he knew was pain._

_For the second time in his life, Naruto felt completely alone and alienated. The fire in his head spread through his entire body and he curled into a ball and tried to block it out. His harsh gasps escaped through his teeth and resounded through the trees._

_--- -------_

_Sasuke walked through the forest. Stopping, he pressed the earring in his left ear, "Where are you?" he asked._

_At first there was nothing but static, then a roar ripped through his body, followed by a raw-throated yell of pain. Sasuke broke contact and bit his lip to stop himself from crying out. Blood trickled from his lower lip and down his chin._

_--------------------- ------------------_

Sasuke fairly flew in the direction of the yell. He had never run so hard in his life—including the time the fangirls had found his secret training grounds in the forest. All other thoughts aside—Sasuke was scared. The feeling had left his body and his mind was blank— the only thing he was aware of was the brain-numbing, icy fear that was spreading through his mind, sabotaging his ability to think straight.

Sasuke couldn't help but feel as though he was in a botched version of the memory in which he found his parents and clan-members murdered in the Uchiha compound with Itachi standing over them, drenched in the blood that was not his own. Letting his chakra fan out, Sasuke looked for an energy signature similar to Yuubi-san's. When he found none his heart felt like it was lodged in his throat, constricting his airways.

If he lost him… if Yuubi-san died… Sasuke didn't know what he would do—in the past week he had spent with his ANBU teacher his attitude towards the man had radically changed to a point where Sasuke couldn't even imagine life _without_ Yuubi-san. Yuubi-san had gotten underneath the Uchiha's skin—whether he liked it or not. He had gradually inserted himself into Sasuke's life; joking with him, teasing him, coxing him into joining in on the fun—no one had ever treated him with the kind of loving disrespect that the ANBU had.

Except for a certain blonde idiot back in the village… Sasuke tripped over a root and skinned his knee against a rock, earning a few new splinters in the process. He didn't move for a moment. The pain in his knee was blocked out by the rush of adrenaline coursing through his system. A spark of chakra flared somewhere nearby and Sasuke jumped to his feet. Firmly he decided that on his list of priorities, Yuubi-san was at the top… even before killing Itachi.

The silence pressed in on him on all sides as the ninja wound his way through the twisted trees. Sasuke looked up and saw only the branches of the dark trees high above his head. A patch of green light shone through a gap somewhere nearby where the chakra signature was flickering. As he walked towards it, something white caught his eye.

------------- -------------------- --------------------------

Naruto had pulled himself into a sitting position. He coughed and blood spurted out of his mouth and flowed down his chin. A far-too familiar sensation gripped him and the former container of the kyuubi shifted to all fours before empting the acrid contents of his stomach onto the grass. Many minutes later he felt the beginnings of hysteria setting in on him as he retched and felt his stomach knot painfully. His breath was coming in harsher gasps and the stomach acid burned in his nostrils; the ANBU moved slowly to sit a few feet away with his back to a tree, leaning against it. Naruto reached up a gloved hand to wipe the remnants of blood and stomach bile from his mouth.

He forced himself to take in a deep breath in and then out—a cold, raw fear had emerged in him and was settling in on his chest. The ANBU tried to ignore the gigantic neon skull and snake in the sky that was emitting a weird, sickly green glow in the sky. He pulled his knees to his chest and buried his head in them, locking his hands at the back of his neck. Silently he began to go over the class/lecture Tsunade had given the newly promoted ANBU captains.

"_Shock," She had told them, "is something you will have to deal with on a mission. In your other missions as jounin, you were sent to kill groups of people—relatively small in size. ANBU is nothing like that. You will be commanded to exterminate entire clans, even villages, complete genocide. Your team will be pushed to its limits." The Hokage looked sternly at them. "Some of the newer recruits will not be able to handle this, and it's your duty as their leader to care for them; We cannot afford to lose valuable ninja to the psychiatric ward…" _

"_Step one:"_

----------------- --------------------------- --------------------------- ------

Stepping into the clearing, Sasuke bent down to pick up the gleaming white mask. His breath hitched as his brain registered who it was that wore the mask. A groan sounded somewhere to his left and Sasuke snapped his head in that direction; what he saw was a blonde man in full ANBU attire sitting underneath a gigantic willow tree. Yuubi-san had his hands on the top of his head and his knees pulled up to his chest.

"Yuubi-san." The man flinched at the sound of his voice. Sasuke frowned. Something was very wrong here; an ANBU captain did not flinch when you planted a bomb underneath him and set it off, an ANBU captain wouldn't even blink an eye if you let off a firecracker by their ear. Yet here was the elite of the elite—the one closest in strength to the Kages—shaking at the sound of a man's barely audible voice.

Sasuke approached him cautiously—even though Yuubi-san was in no position to do him bodily harm, the ANBU was still to be considered dangerous. He knelt beside the older man.

This is where Sasuke froze up. What the hell was he supposed to do now? They didn't teach you how to comfort a fallen ANBU captain in the Academy! It didn't help that his social skills were less than satisfactory—living alone in a gigantic mansion can do that to you if you're not careful. He wanted to help Yuubi-san; really, he did… but nothing like this had been covered in the ANBU training manual either!

So after a minute of careful consideration, Sasuke opted for the more straightforward approach, "What happened?"

Yuubi-san didn't answer for a moment. "Sasuke… I'm not the person you think I am… I've been lying to you for a long time…" The Uchiha blinked owlishly.

"What do you mean?"

"We've known each other for a long time, before I was your captain, before I was 'Yuubi-san' I was…" Yuubi-san lifted his head and Sasuke squinted to see him in the shadows. Finally his visage came into the light and Sasuke's eyes felt like they would pop straight out of his head.

"Naruto?"

_---A/N: Normally I would end it here, but I don' feel like leaving you guys hanging, so I will continue! ---_

Arthur Weasley wiped his sweating forehead on a bandana that one of the medic wizards had handed him. The Aurors would be arriving soon; everyone had been evacuated out of the forest… except for two people; Yuubi-san and Sasuke. Arthur didn't know what they were doing, but he did know they were going to be in trouble if the aurors found them—they were shady-looking and prime suspects for being in league with the death-eaters.

Where ever they were, Arthur hoped desperately that they would get back soon.

------------ ------------------------------

Damned emotions. Many times before now, Naruto had wished he could close them off and lock them away in a box to sort out another time. Naruto had succeeded, for the most part—the only problem was that he could only do this when he was leading a team or killing someone. Seeing as he was clearly doing neither, it would be safe to say his emotions had free reign over the ANBU.

Even as he turned his head in shame, Naruto could feel the unfamiliar and unwanted tears welling in his eyes. Angrily he pushed them back. "I'm… sorry." He managed to whisper, "I didn't want you to find out about me like this…"

Naruto had always imagined this moment as one of happiness—one in which he would sweep Sasuke off his feet and they would go off to live happy lives together. It didn't surprise him that his daydreams were dead-wrong, they usually were. Naruto didn't know what he done to piss off Lady Luck in his past life, but whatever he had done, it was most likely bad. A pair of arms encircled around him and pulled Naruto close to where he could hear a wildly beating heart.

"It's… it's okay.." Sasuke mumbled into Naruto's hair. "I forgive you…"

Naruto's reply was a whimper. The pain from before had decided to resurface. This time it attacked his stomach and diaphragm, causing him to groan and double up, coughing and gasping for air.

----------- ---------------------------------------------- --------

Sasuke rubbed Naruto's back through his tremors. The Uchiha's quick mind was running slower than normal, but he had one point clear in his mind. Yuubi-san was Naruto. He had the same chakra signature as Yuubi-san, even if it was nearly undetectable at the moment. Sasuke decided questions would only upset his friend right now. Any other thoughts were forced from Sasuke's mind—and a new objective was formed: get out of here.

Naruto was coughing up blood, staining his gray ANBU-in-training vest—he needed to see a healer. Sasuke thought he was doing pretty well at not panicking—up until Naruto passed out cold in his arms.

------------------ ------------------------------------------ ---------------------------

Arthur Weasley paced restlessly in front of his family. "I don't know where in heaven's name they could've gone to!" He finally exclaimed, pulling at his graying hair in agitation.

"Arthur!" the cry was heard a few good moments before an oddly-shaped figure came hurtling through the underbrush. It was Sasuke, and he was carrying the body of the unmasked Yuubi-san. "Arthur, where are the medic nins?" the teacher was obviously in a panic.

"Medic-whats?" Arthur saw the blood on Sasuke's vest and blanched, "Never mind… What the hell happened?"

"I don't know." Sasuke's already abused voice cracked as he tried to make himself heard, "I found him in the forest and he was coughing up blood and he… and-and.. the mask…" Sasuke's voice dwindled and then gradually died out all together. He looked beseechingly at Charlie.

"Come on." The dragon handler put a hand on the Uchiha's shoulder and looked back at his father, "Will you be alright here?"

"Yes, the ministry has everything under control." Mr. Weasley still looked pale; he was staring at the blood that covered Sasuke's vest.

"Cool, then I'm going to take them back to mum's, she'll know what to do." Before Sasuke had a chance to comprehend what was going on, he felt like he was being squeezed into a tight pair of Gai's green spandex uniforms—then it was over. Charlie pushed him into the Weasley's kitchen into a very surprised Mrs. Weasley.

Molly looked from Charlie to Sasuke, and then down to Naruto in Sasuke's arms.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!"

-------------------- ----------------------------- ---------------------- ------------------

Sasuke paced around the kitchen, glaring at the floor. Charlie sat with his head in his arms—soft snoring could be heard from the folds of his sweater. Molly emerged from the living-room. She caught Sasuke in mid-pace and steered him into a chair; the homely woman then conjured up a mug of steaming liquid—which tasted quite nasty—and made him drink it.

"Your friend will be fine." She told him, "I don't know what happened to make him react like this—I'm speaking about his condition, of course—but he shouldn't push himself for at least a week."

Sasuke calmed at the news. In his mind, he made a mental note to ask Molly how she came into the field of medicine; but seeing as his voice was completely useless, he remained silent and only nodded.

"You can go see him, if you like." Molly smiled kindly at him. Sasuke felt his face heat up and he looked away. After a moments silence, he nodded slowly and got up; his ANBU uniform had long been discarded and replaced by checkered green pajama pants and a rather interesting blue shirt that was two sizes too large—all in all, the ensemble was hideous, but it was the only thing the Uchiha had that wasn't covered in blood. Molly closed the door behind him.

Sasuke made his way to the prone figure of Naruto lying on the pull-out couch. Sasuke activated his sharingan—he didn't trust the wizards enough to believe they could honestly heal someone correctly. Looking over his fallen rival, he noticed that Naruto's chakra had diminished severely—almost to a critical level—like something had leached most of his power from him. It made sense now, Naruto wasn't hurt physically; he was suffering from chakra withdrawal. The questions buzzing in the Uchiha's ears dwindled to a low hum as he drew up a chair level to the bed and reached out for Naruto's hand. Very slowly, he let some of his chakra seep into the other's form. Minutes passed and Sasuke felt his eyelids droop, but he shook himself awake—he shouldn't be this tired…unless… _that damn woman…_

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"Charlie." Molly shook her second eldest son awake. "Go get some sleep in the twin's room."

"Wha?" Charlie rubbed sleep from his eyes, "Nah, s'ok mum. I'm awake." He yawned and looked around, "Where'd Sasuke go? Last thing I remember; he was pacing and I think that put me to sleep."

"He's in the other room with Yuubi-san." Molly giggled.

"Where's he going to sleep?"

"Oh, I doubt it'll matter." Mrs. Weasley said flippantly, "I put enough sleeping potion in his drink to make him sleep for a good ten hours." Charlie blinked at the devious look on his mother's face. She got up and pulled out her wand, "Care for some breakfast, dearheart?"

Charlie only nodded.

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**Bwaha! I'm sorry that was so painfully short! –cries- **This chapter was a bitch to write, but I got it done! Sorry if its not as good of quality as some of the others, but as I said: It was a bitch to write.

Well, things are heating up. What'll happen in the next chapter? Who knows…. Not me… well, not yet at least…

R&R if you likie!


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, so here's the dealio:** if I were to make a series of Naruto crossovers after this one, would you guys read it? And if I did, what would you want to read the most?

Thanks for all the reviews guys! ;D -hugging you all-

I promise this chapter will be a long one!

**Oh, and I may be a little slower on the updates because I started school up again TT.TT Noooo! I'll do the best I can, though! **

(it just occurred to me that I left out Winky… oops…)

CHAPTER TEN

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Two people were in the living room. One lay on the pull-out couch, the other was slumped forwards in a chair with their torso on the bed, snoring softly. Both were male. Both were holding the other's hand. Ginny Weasley blushed. Yuubi-san was younger than she thought he would be and much cuter too—now that she had a decent look at him. Silently she closed the door and tiptoed to the kitchen.

"They're still asleep." She told her mother.

"Well, of course they are, dear. They've had a rough night, we all have." Molly hugged her daughter and smiled at her sons. "What happened last night at the QWC, Arthur?" the plump woman waved her wand and a cup of coffee appeared in front of the bedraggled ministry employee.

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(A/N: I've decided to create a small story within this story dedicated to what's happening back in Konoha… it's gonna have KakaIru as the main pairing, but it will help to lengthen the chapters and hopefully give an idea of who Sasuke and Naruto are as adults.)

And thus begins the: **Konoha Chronicles**

Maito Gai stood apart from the other group of elite jounin. It was a brisk evening in Konoha and the streets were thronged with paper lanterns that shone in different colors and groups of people who stood whispering to one another. Vendors shifted restlessly in their shops. Word had spread faster than wildfire. Hatake Kakashi had rejoined ANBU.

His team had been sent out on a week long mission to the village of Suna. Two weeks later, they had not returned. What could have kept him? Gai asked himself repeatedly. Yes, his eternal rival had been a little slack in his training, but that shouldn't have mattered with a peace-keeping mission such as this! Gai would have pulled his perfect black hair out in frustration if he had not put so much gel in it—it was rock-solid by now. A tap on his shoulder brought the jounin back to reality.

"Sakura-chan, what brings you here?" Gai flashed his expertly flossed teeth at her.

"Do you know where Lee is? I need to talk to him…" Sakura explained. She regretted asking the green-clad jounin when he began on a long, ridiculous rant on the springtime of youth and the wonderful youthful love that only two young people could share. "Gai-sensei!" Sakura finally cried, "Can you just tell me where he is!"

"He's at the Uchiha compound." Gai watched the blur of pink speed away. He turned in the opposite direction and began to walk.

The pink-haired kunoichi had changed over the years. Sakura was now standing at an average height of 5'8''. She wore the black jacket of a rookie-medic—the sleeves were rolled up past her elbows and it fanned out behind her as she ran, exposing the silver and black fishnet tank top. Her hair had grown past her shoulders and was pulled into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. The Uchiha compound's wall was within seeing distance and Sakura slowed to a walk, trying to smooth her breathing—being a medic didn't require much physical strength, not in the beginning at least, but more on that later.

A distant figure in forest green stood a ways away and Sakura grinned. "Lee!" She called. The figure turned and once he realized who had spoken, jumped up ecstatically and rushed to greet her. Rock Lee didn't slow down when he reached the kunoichi; he kept at full speed until he—quite literally—crashed into her, lifted her up and swing her into a crushing bear-hug. "Sakura-chan!" he cried happily.

"ello…" was all Sakura could force out of her squished diaphragm. Rock Lee had not changed his style since he was a genin—although he did have different outfits for other occasions; the green spandex was still his favorite. How he had managed to win the beauteous Sakura-chan's heart is beyond my knowledge—I will, however disclose that it took a fare amount of woo-ing, poems, chocolates and a romantic date in a tuxedo on Lee's part.

"Lee?" the medic-nin gasped.

"Yes, oh flower of my desire?"

"I can't breathe…" The taijustu master put her down immediately, looking concerned.

"I am so sorry Sakura-chan!" His eyes widened adorably and Sakura could almost see the unshed tears. She sighed and hugged him around the neck—Lee could get so emotional at times.

"It's okay Lee, I'm glad to see you, too." She said. Lee's energy sky-rocketed and yet again, Sakura found herself lifted off the ground to Lee's height as he spun her around, laughing his head off—Rock Lee was in the neighborhood of 6'3'', so the pink-haired chunin's feet dangled helplessly, inches above the ground.

"I do hope we haven't interrupted anything…" the deep voice of Neji interrupted their moment of reunion. Lee set Sakura on the ground and went to greet his former teammate. Hinata waved at Sakura and they hugged.

"Hinata, how are you?" Sakura looked the Hyuuga up and down, liking what she saw. Hinata was wearing a skintight, light blue tank top and khaki capris—Ino had forced her into clothes shopping and finally convinced the shy girl of her prettiness.

"I've been fine, how about you, Sakura?" Hinata blushed and smiled.

"Confused, actually…" Sakura's brow furrowed and she looked at Lee, "I've been meaning to ask you, why were you in front of Sasuke's house?"

"Sasuke's gone missing." The sultry purr of Ino whispered in her ear. Sakura jumped.

"Ino!" She squealed and latched onto the girl, "When did you get here!"

"Just now." The jounin smiled and pushed Sakura off of her. She turned to the rest of the group, "Hey, so we goin' in?"

"Indeed!" Lee grinned and held out a hand—which Sakura took—and threw her over the high barrier surrounding the Uchiha Compound.

"Such a gentleman!" Everyone nodded in agreement.

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Minutes later, the ninja had successfully infiltrated the main house of the Uchiha clan and were standing in the middle of a luxurious main living room. Ino whistled. Hinata blinked. Lee gaped openly. Sakura sank onto the couch. Neji didn't care—he was inspecting the ends of his fingernails for imperfections.

"Amazing!" Lee was the first one to speak, his boisterous voice echoed into the rafters high above, "This is the first time I have set foot in my rival's home!"

"Sasuke did like his privacy." Ino fingered a small figurine of a kunai set into a stump.

"But where is _Sasuke?_" Hinata gave voice to the one question on everyone's mind.

While the others had been caught in their meaningless conversation, Neji had slipped silently into the kitchen. His colorless eyes roamed from the tea-kettle on the stove to the chair lying on the polished marble floor. The Hyuuga bent to study the kitchen table. A small ring was left on the wood. Sasuke had forgotten to use a coaster and it showed days later. Neji glanced into the trashcan and fished out the wrapper of a unique-looking tea—repressing a shudder of disgust. He threw it back into the waste reciprocal. Walking once around the kitchen, he could see nothing amiss. He checked the windows, no sign of anyone breaking in. Neji frowned and turned, his eyes fell to the table again. He blinked. Two foot-prints were barely visible against the polished mahogany.

_Foot prints?_ Neji quirked an eyebrow, _suspicious. Sasuke wouldn't be standing on his own table…_ He quickly suppressed a snort of laughter at the thought of the stoic Uchiha standing on his kitchen table, eating breakfast—or whatever it was that he did in the privacy of his home.

"Oi, guys, you better get in here!" Neji called. Everyone came sprinting—after all, it isn't everyday that _the_ Hyuuga _NEJI_ requests that you share oxygen in the same room with him.

Only Hinata stayed where she was. The shy Hyuuga female's eyes were widened and veins were popping out around them—the common side-effect of using the byugan. Almost immediately her eyes returned to normal. Hinata padded silently to the front hall and opened the door.

"Hello, Iruka-sensei, what brings you here?" She asked sweetly, smiling at the brown-haired chunin whose fist was raised to knock on the door.

"Hinata-chan?" Iruka looked like he hadn't slept in days. Even though Hinata had graduated from the academy many years before-hand, Iruka always addressed his former students with the suffix "chan" or "kun", with exceptions, of course.

"What are you doing at Sasuke's house?"

"I could ask you the same thing, come on in, Sasuke-kun's missing." Hinata closed the door behind the sensei.

The first thing Iruka saw upon entering the kitchen was Lee, Sakura, Ino and Neji standing over Sasuke's table. Neji was in the midst of explaining that Sasuke had not been home for more than four days and that when he had left, he had not been alone. They all looked up as Hinata and Iruka entered.

"Iruka-sensei?" Sakura asked, "What are you doing here?"

Iruka didn't here the question; instead he bent over the foot marks on the table. "Strange…" He murmured, "This looks like the design I set in Naruto's shoes just the other day…"

Neji leaned closer, and sure enough, a small design of a toad was visible in the prints. "What would Naruto be doing on Sasuke's table, I wonder?" he exhaled.

"You look dead on your feet, Iruka-sensei." Hinata gently tugged the chunin's arm and indicated to the living room, "Why don't we all sit down?" The sensei nodded gratefully and allowed himself to be guided onto the couch.

"Naruto's gone, too." Iruka said suddenly, after a few moments silence.

"Come to think of it, you're right." Ino's brow furrowed.

"I haven't seen my orange-clad companion lately, either." Lee piped up, "We were supposed to meet to train yesterday, but he didn't show up."

"You don't think anything happened to him, do you?" Hinata bit her lip nervously.

"Oh, wonderful." Iruka put his head in his hands with a defeated sigh, "First Kakashi, now Naruto! I was so sure he would be here. I checked everywhere he could be: the bar, the forest, the training grounds, the memorial stone, even the ANBU barracks! Hero-kun won't tell me where he is and I don't think even _he _knows!"

The mentioning of Hero surprised the group—and with good reason! For all you non-Konoha residents, Hero is the go-to-guy of Konohagakure. You got a missing person, he'll find them. Your house was broken into? Hero-kun can get yer stuff back—for a fee, that is. Not much is known about him, other than he is the most powerful influence in the underworld crime rings and the head of the most powerful guilds (the clothing and medical guilds). So why would he and an ANBU captain be on first-name terms—not to mention on the same terms as with said ANBU's former chunin-sensei?

You see; in his earlier years, Naruto had—like all ANBU rookies—been sent on small missions too dangerous for genin teams and too tedious for jounin, finding the leader of the underworld fell under this category. It had been a difficult time for Hero, and Naruto had helped him out in a moment of weakness. They had been allies ever since—and let me tell you, that alliance saved Naruto's neck many a time. Iruka wasn't supposed to have met, let alone known, about Hero; the name had just popped out of Naruto's mouth while he was telling his sensei about his latest mission—and the rest you can figure out by yourself.

"H-Hero-kun?" Hinata's eyes flashed, "Are you saying Naruto-kun is associating himself with _Hero-kun!" _She collected herself before anything else on her mind slipped from between her parted lips.

"Wait a minute… Why would Naruto hang out in a bar? Or the ANBU barracks?" Sakura's sharp mind buzzed with thoughts, "Why would you want to come here before checking at Naruto's apartment, where he actually _lives?_"

Iruka looked at her with a frown, "Naruto doesn't like his apartment; says it's too confining—I would have to agree with the number of scrolls and journals he keeps in there." A slightly vacant look positioned itself on Iruka's face and Hinata glared meaningfully at him. Unfortunately, the brown-haired sensei didn't notice and continued to speak, "Bars fit his personality better, and the ANBU in the barracks are his kind of people. If he wasn't there or training, I assumed he would come here to be around Sasuke, seeing as he's so infatuated with him…"

"Wh-what?" Sakura's eyes resembled giant, teal saucers on her face. Lee's eyebrows had shot up to blend into his hair and Neji's eyes looked positively normal—that's how surprised he was—Ino nearly fell off the couch.

"Iruka!" Hinata squeaked, a look of horror crossing her face.

"Oh shit!" The chunin realized his error too late.

"Wha-what?" Ino spluttered, "What's all this about Naruto having an infatuation with Sasuke?"

"It's none of your business." Hinata hissed. The group of ninja cowered from the bloodlust radiating off the normally shy Hyuuga girl. Said girl turned on the meek sensei, "Iruka, you said you wouldn't tell! You promised him!"

"I know, Hinata, I know!" Iruka gripped his hair in frustration. "Dammit, I shouldn't have come. This whole business with Kakashi is finishing off whatever little sanity I had left."

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(A/N: back to the actual crossover, ne? Tell me if you guys liked that, if not, then I can discontinue it or something… )

Sunlight was pouring into the room. Naruto shifted uncomfortably, trying to move to a spot without sunlight shining in his eyes. When he found none, the ANBU reluctantly sat up and looked blearily around the room. Something wasn't right. Where were the trees?

The room came into focus, and with it came the outline of Sasuke.

… …

… …

_What the hell is he **wearing?**_ Naruto looked skeptically at the pajama pants and too-large shirt. Carefully, so as to not disturb Sasuke—not that it mattered, seeing as the Uchiha had enough sleep-potion in his system to take out a rhino for two days (but Naruto didn't know about that, did he?)—the ANBU slipped off of the pull-out bed, frowning as his legs protested the movement. He ignored them and flexed his arms, slightly pleased that nothing seemed to be wrong with his bodily functions. True: he was more exhausted than he had been in years, but since Kyuu was gone, it was only natural—after all, the demon made up most of his chakra reserves. The loneliness from before hadn't quite left him, but it had diminished to a feeling that something was missing, but he could ignore that. The hunched figure of Sasuke mumbled something and shifted.

Looking down upon the sleeping man, Naruto smiled. Sasuke looked kinder in his sleep, more fragile: a feature Naruto had never witnessed on the stoic Uchiha. Before exiting he draped one of his blankets around Sasuke's shoulders. It wasn't until he had reached the living room door that Naruto realized he was stark naked.

He turned back and scanned the surrounding area for clothing. The pull-out couch with the sleeping Uchiha was in the middle of the room. Various lamps and bookshelves were lined against the wall and it gave off a very homely feel. After minutes of fruitless searching, Naruto pulled out a particularly ratty-looking robe—but it was clean, and it was clothing—so he put it on. The robe was more comfortable than it looked and it felt like it belonged to someone much rounder than Naruto. Regardless, this is what the ninja wore as he tip-toed into the kitchen, trying not to make much noise on the hardwood floors of the living room. He backed out of the room and silently closed the door behind him. Turning, he came face to face with the Weasley family and Harry and Hermione—they were all staring at him as if he were some kind of zombie.

"Um… Hi?" He stammered.

"Yuubi-san, that you?" Harry squinted at him. Naruto cocked an eyebrow at him, of course it was! Who else would wear a mask around a house? _Hold on a minute…_ A sense of dread gripped him. He touched his face. Of course, he had taken off his mask in the forest… then that means that…

"_FUCK!_" He reverted back to his first language of Japanese. He darted over to the long mirror in the corner of the room and looked in horror at his complexion. The whisker-like scars had disappeared, leaving his face smooth and unmarred. His usually bright blue eyes were the color of the sea after a storm. His normally gravity-defying hair was drooping slightly. Naruto's breath caught in his throat and the blood left his face. He looked like… like… _that man._ "_Arashi…_" He whispered the name.

Molly had come up behind him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's okay deary, come sit down. You've had a rough time. It's normal to feel this way."

Oh, how he wished he could just sit down and believe the delightful things Molly was telling him. But the fact was that it would _not_ be okay. It had_ never_ been okay. Naruto pushed down his emotions and straightened up to look down her—the ninja stood a good foot over Molly's head.

"Where are my clothes?" His voice was strained. Molly gulped and pointed to a pile of black on the counter. Naruto hadn't meant to look so menacing, but it came with being a top-notch ANBU captain—and it also didn't help that he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

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Charlie was straight. No doubts about it. He liked boobies and that was that. Or at least, that's what he had thought, until Yuubi-san had walked out of the living room in nothing but a bath robe. The way Yuubi-san moved had Charlie seriously questioning his preferences.

It wasn't Charlie's fault. Many a good ANBU had been hospitalized for blood-loss because they had taken an innocent glance in Naruto's direction while changing in the locker-rooms. Naruto was just abnormally handsome. Most of the normal citizens of Konoha had been spared the boy's good looks because of his tendency to wear eye-gouging, orange clothing.

"I… I have to go…" The man's eyes were darting around the room. He was searching for something. For what: Charlie could not say, but it was apparent that it was not here. Yuubi-san picked up the bundle of clothing and strode towards the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Charlie's father blocked the exit.

"I…" The ninja looked at the wizard with large pleading eyes, "I have to go home… I can't stay here… he knows… he'll hate me… please, Arthur…"

"Who knows what? When will you be back?" Clearly Charlie was not the only one affected by Naruto. Arthur's resolve was dissolving faster than an ice cube in lava.

"Please… I won't be gone for more than two days. I promise…" Arthur finally caved when he looked into the ANBU's eyes. He could only nod dumbly as the man opened the door and rushed out.

"Well…" Ginny cleared her throat, "He's kinda cute, for a bodyguard, dontcha think?" She was greeted by a chorus of reluctant 'yeah's.

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_Sasuke…_ he_ knows… _

_I lied to him. He'll hate me. **Sasuke** is going to hate me…_

_What do I do? WHAT DO I DO!_

_Iruka… He'll know… he knows everything._

_I can't go into the village like this, not looking like **him.** _

_Not like Arashi…_ _Not like my father. _

Naruto wasn't sure when he had dressed himself and gotten rid of the robe. He wasn't sure how long he had been running for and he had no idea where he was. Finally, too exhausted to move, Naruto had sat down on a tree stump to collect himself. He knew all too well that when he stepped into Iruka's apartment—no matter how much he told himself he wouldn't—he would break down and sob. It had happened all too many times in the past and the past has a nasty way of replaying itself in the future.

_Think Naruto, think!_ He berated himself furiously. _ You are stuck in the middle of nowhere with no assets or any idea of time._ First things first: check your surroundings. _Okay, nothing threatening there._ Second: check your chakra level. _Hmmm… Enough to perform a transportation jutsu… I should probably play it safe and go directly to Iruka's apartment. _

Third: put things in motion. Naruto stood and began the hand signals. He was careful to focus on where he wanted to end up, last time he had let his mind wander while performing this jutsu he had ended up with a spear to his throat and a number of ferocious knights on horses surrounding him and his ANBU trainer.

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**Konoha Chronicles**

"That's no the point!" Hinata howled, "Naruto-kun trusted you!"

"What do you know that we don't?" Sakura had gotten up and moved closer to the Hyuuga girl.

"I can't tell you, you're going to have to ask Naruto-kun—when and _if_ we find him." Hinata stood and pulled Iruka up with her. "Come on, Iruka, we have some things to discuss." The poor sensei just nodded helplessly as he was dragged out of the Uchiha mansion.

"Sakura, my love," Lee said after a moment's silence, "seeing as you were on Naruto's team before any of us actually knew him, maybe Iruka-sensei will say something to you; you should go find out the details."

"Yeah." Ino and Neji agreed. Hinata was scary when she wanted to be, and it was better Sakura than one of them.

"Sure, why not?" Sakura cracked her knuckles in sync with inner Sakura, "It always seemed like Naruto had a few more secrets than he let on."

**------- meanwhile, with Iruka and Hinata… After a rather severe lecture, Hinata finally lets our brown-haired chunin walk away unscathed and this is where we find him now…**

The houses lining the streets were dark. This in itself wasn't uncommon, not only was it eight O'clock at night, but some major festivities were going to be set off tomorrow and everyone liked to pitch in towards the common goal. Iruka's building complex was nearing and he began to fumble around in his vest pockets, searching for the key to his apartment. Looking up in exasperation, the sensei noticed his window was open. Hadn't he shut that this morning?

_Unless... Kakashi? _He literally ran up the side of the building and threw himself through the window. No one was in the bedroom. The chunin's heart gave a painful throb and he listened closely. The sound of a tea kettle coming to a boil was audible just in the living room. Iruka peeked out the door and saw the hunched figure of Naruto in full ANBU attire sitting at the counter. Iruka knew he would be lying if he had said that he wasn't a little disappointed to see the boy, because it meant that Kakashi was still out there somewhere. Still, the older man crossed the room and encircled his arms around the blonde.

"Hey, where've you been?" He asked.

"Iruka?" Naruto's voice was muffled by his chunin vest.

"Yeah?"

"Sasuke knows I'm ANBU…" Naruto looked up at his father-figure with over bright eyes. Iruka almost gasped. The whisker marks that usually dominated the boy's facial features were gone. He put a hand on Naruto's cheek and felt only smooth skin. Now that he was on the subject, Naruto's chakra levels were dangerously low.

"What happened exactly?" He fought to stay calm. Iruka had always known Sasuke would never easily accept that Naruto was on a completely different level than him, but had attacking Naruto really helped? The blonde was too infatuated with the dark-haired Uchiha to actually do him any bodily harm, so he would've held back. That brought up more questions, though. Why did the scars disappear, and why did Naruto have almost no chakra left?

"I don't want to think about it right now." Naruto whispered.

"Tell me. What did Sasuke do?" Iruka forced the blonde to look at him, using his teacher voice. Naruto's eyes clouded in confusion and then cleared as he understood.

"Iruka, Sasuke didn't do this to me. The solstice forced the Kyuubi to go into hibernation." Naruto stood and stumbled forwards, "I think I'm gonna go to bed… I feel kinda sleepy all the sudden." He collapsed on the floor.

"Dammit!" Iruka had waited too long. Naruto needed medical attention, and not just any medic would do. Dealing with one person's chakra was hard enough, but Naruto had _two_ to contend with—one of which had suddenly disappeared!

So it was thus that Tsunade was interrupted from her poker game with a few of the veteran jounin—Asuma and Kurenai… I suppose Gai was there too, but he's awful at playing poker—by a very frustrated Umino dragging an unconscious blonde man in ANBU attire. Tsunade didn't even have to ask.

"Dammit Naruto. What is it this time, Iruka?"

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R&R if you love me! Kidding, but it would be appreciated, I hope to make the chapters longer from here on out, did that seem long to you guys? It sure took me long enough to write! Sorry for the late update, but highschool is calling my name and I have no choice but to answer it. Do NOT worry! I will not abandon this fic! I promise!

As always, tell me if you're confused and I'll try to sort things out for you, mkay?


	11. Chapter 11

Awright, back to business! Mwahahaha, I guess its time to make Naruto have some revelations, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter, ne? **Anyways, while Naruto is in Konoha, the Konoha chronicles will be centered around him.**

**Konoha Chronicles: Naruto Style.**

Iruka paced the interior of the Medical ward. The fifth time the sensei walked in front of Asuma, the well-meaning jounin had forcibly pulled him into a chair and told him to sit still.

Sakura had arrived on the scene as soon as Tsunade had called for her—the chunin had been in the area—looking for Iruka and Hinata, when her pager had gone off. She was in the room with Tsunade because; as the Hokage had explained to the irate Iruka, it would be good practice for the medic-nin in training.

"Tsunade-sensei?" Sakura asked timidly as she changed from her former outfit into a sterile jacket and re-pinned her hair, "Who did you say we were working on?"

"I didn't." Tsunade motioned her into a room adjacent to the changing room. A pale man with blonde hair lay on the table. White arm-guards lay on the table next to him. The white vest and black tank top of an ANBU lay beside the table with the armguards. Goose-bumps were visible on the man's arms. Sakura duly noted that his breaths were coming in short soft gasps.

"Chakra with-drawl?" she guessed. The man was showing the symptoms mentioned in the textbook. Tsunade nodded in approval.

"Okay, you need to sit this one out: just watch." Tsunade popped her knuckles, "Usually I would have you do this, but you haven't had enough practice yet and I don't want to chance it." Sakura scowled; Tsunade was making her sound like a wet-behind-the-ears freshman! She had dealt with this type of scenario once before, and the person had come out just fine!

"Don't look at me like that." Tsunade sighed, "Listen: If he wasn't a top-ranking captain in ANBU and the future Rokudaime—and if he didn't have _two_ chakras to contend with—he would be all yours, but he is—and does—and we can't afford to lose him."

"… what?"

"Listen, it looks like you're going to be more of a nuisance than help; go out to the waiting room." Tsunade waved her away. Sakura could only nod dumbly and do as she was instructed. She sat down next to Iruka.

"Hullo, Iruka." She muttered.

"Hullo, Sakura." Iruka sounded disheartened, "What brings you here?"

"Oh. Tsunade called me in and sent me back out. Whoever she's working on is too important for me to handle because I might mess up." Sakura frowned, and then managed a weak grin at Iruka, "Why are you here, Sensei?"

"Naruto." Iruka replied, "You probably didn't get to see him before Tsunade-sama kicked you out, did you? She's such a brute, honestly."

Sakura stared at the chunin like he had gone mad. If that ANBU on the table had been Naruto then that meant that he was a captain; and if that was true, then that meant that… "Whoa, whoa, wait. You mean _Naruto_, right? As in the annoying, loudmouthed, orange-wearing, obnoxious, _idiot _Naruto that was part of team seven along with me and Sasuke and who's supposedly still a jounin, right?"

"What's that one phrase Kakashi always used to say to you three? _Look beneath the beneath._ Naruto isn't always the blonde idiot he wants everyone to see him as." Iruka forced a chuckle and patted the pink-haired woman on the shoulder.

Sakura looked doubtfully at the hand on her shoulder and thought back to her memories of Naruto. Yes, he had always seemed stronger than he let on—take the fight with Zabuza and Haku, for example. The blonde had emitted some kind of foreign, evil-feeling kind of chakra. Later in his fight with Neji, Naruto had called on that same chakra again and totally annihilated the Hyuuga. (a/n: Okay, I've only read that far in the manga but I know most of the plotline, just not the details, so the rest I'm making up, mkay? Sorry, this is an AU fic—meaning that things are basically the same but some other things are totally different. Make sense?) When Sasuke had left to join Orochimaru, it had been Naruto who had gone after him first. A team of ANBU had been sent out an hour later and had found Sasuke lying unconscious in the blonde's lap.

---- The scene (because I know you readers want to know…)

_Harada Mitsu of Konohagakure was a decent fellow and a reasonable ANBU. He was not, however, a decent liar. This was also why he threw himself off a cliff while in the land of waterfalls to escape capture, ultimately resulting in his untimely retirement from ANBU—but he is not the subject of our tale. Who is, then? Well, my dear reader: who exactly do think this entire fictional environment is based around? Why, none other than Uzumaki Naruto, of course! Harada-kun just happened to be on the retrieve squad sent by the Hokage. _

_The blonde boy had put a finger to his lips as they had approached. A stupid grin was plastered onto his face as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I got lucky. The stupid bastard fell right into my trap!" _

_Harada had searched the area afterwards and had found no sign of any kind of trap, but he had kept silent. The rest of his team had told him about the Uzumaki kid—he was the vessel of the Kyuubi-demon and was a stone's throw away from becoming a jounin and his friends and teammates were oblivious to it. This kid was a force to be reckoned with._

_----- --------_

Sakura looked at Iruka with serious eyes, "Do you really mean that, Iruka?"

"Every word of it."

"So… how long has he been lying to us?" Sakura looked down.

"It's hard to tell." Iruka's face was gaunter than the kunoichi had remembered it being, "I had only found out by a guess when he had graduated into ANBU."

_So we weren't the only ones begin lied to, it was everyone._ Sakura thought to herself.

"So what's this whole business with Naruto being the future Rokudaime?" She blurted out suddenly. The other inhabitants of the waiting room jumped in surprise and shock—that was to say: Asuma, Kurenai and Gai.

"What now?" Asuma spit out the unlit cigarette in his mouth—this was a hospital, after all.

"That fool, Naruto?" Kurenai snorted, "How could you believe that piece of foul gossip, Sakura-chan?" Gai didn't speak, he was studying Iruka carefully. The sensei was looking down at his clasped hands in his lap. His eyes were shadowed.

"Is it true, Iruka-sensei?" Gai finally asked.

"Maybe…"

Kurenai looked up in surprise. "How can you say maybe? He's practically your son! Surely you would know if he was going to be the Rokudaime or not." She scoffed.

"Naruto's a good actor and an even better liar; there are many things that even I don't know about him." Iruka shot back. Kurenai winced at his tone. Iruka looked down, "I'm sorry, Kurenai-san. I don't know what came over me."

Sakura left shortly after, saying she needed to do something and that she wanted to see Naruto when he regained his strength. Iruka told her to stop by his house tomorrow.

---------------- o---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"He's out of danger for now." Tsunade stood in the doorway with the unconscious Naruto over her shoulder. "Can you carry him, Iruka? I would usually have him stay here for a night, but he's been through enough already. It'll be better for his mental stability if he wakes up in a more familiar environment."

"Yeah." Iruka took the blonde into his arms and began to trek towards his apartment. Asuma, Kurenai and Gai watched him go in silence.

"You three know the drill," Tsunade nodded to the elite jounin, "You never saw"

"Anything." The three replied in unison.

"Good." Tsunade smiled. The Hokage padded out of the room with her white robes swishing behind her, muttering something about how she was getting too old for this kind of excitement.

---------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is amazing how quickly the human body can adapt to all sorts of situations. It's also peculiar how a minor injury can affect you if the weapon that gave the cut is laced with the right type of poison. Suddenly, petty concerns, such as form and efficiency, are thrown out the proverbial window. The only thing that is important in your mind is to preserve your life and the life of your comrades. Kakashi finds himself in one such situation. This predicament is made considerably easier considering his comrades are dead—killed by a man in a black cloak with red clouds on it.

Why Kakashi was not laying in the ditch with his comrades was a miracle, or perhaps boredom on the cloaked-man's part. Regardless of either afore mentioned statements, Kakashi was now face to face with the murderer, and was staring into his blood-red eyes that looked oddly familiar. The world around him was shrinking into blackness and his last thought was: oh, so this is how it ends… Damn…

------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto groaned and turned over on the bed to burrow his head in a warm, fluffy pillow. Wait a minute. Something wasn't right. The last thing he remembered, he had been talking to Iruka in the kitchen. How did he get in here? Something else was odd, too. He felt…_comfortable_. Usually if he had gone to sleep in his ANBU uniform, he would be stiff and sore all over. This mystery was easily solved as he looked down and saw that he was dressed in his bright orange pajama shirt and a worn pair of dull-blue sweatpants.

"Oh, so you're awake?" The familiar voice of his guardian sounded from the doorway. Naruto looked up at Iruka and tilted his head to the side in a silent question. "You passed out last night, from chakra depletion." The chunin explained, "Sakura-chan came to visit, she's in the kitchen right now, and I'm teaching her to make pancakes. Get up."

Naruto obeyed. As soon as he stood, the room began to spin and he had to sit again. Iruka hastened to his side and put an arm around his waist, helping him out of the room. "Iruka, wait." Naruto said suddenly.

"Naruto, I know it isn't easy to face Sakura-chan after what happened last night, but you need to"

"No Iruka," Naruto interrupted him, and put a hand over his own mouth, "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"What? OH! Why didn't you just say so!" Iruka's face was almost comical.

----------------------------------------------

Sakura bit back a yelp as she singed her finger on the edge of the frying pan she was using to make pancakes. Annoyed at herself, the kunoichi gently sucked on the burnt appendage and turned off the stove. As she ran cool water over her finger, her ears could hear the sound of a toilette flushing. Sakura pulled her finger out of the sink and gently dried it with a towel.

Iruka came into the kitchen shortly after and gave her a warm smile. "I'm afraid Naruto won't be having anything to eat today; I'm sure you know why."

Sakura nodded and smiled back at him. Vomiting was a common side-effect of chakra infusion on a body that had lost most of its own natural chakra. Usually the ninja receiving the treatment would be back on his or her feet the next day.

A blonde man padded silently into the kitchen and collapsed into a chair at the table. Sakura stared at him. This couldn't be Naruto, could it? The three scars that usually adorned each cheek so proudly were missing, and the usually bright-blue eyes were grey; but then a voice rumbled up from the man that surely wasn't Naruto.

"I feel like shit." Blunt, crude. Yep, it's Naruto alright.

-------------------------- **The Anbu and the Teacher: At the Weasley household------------------------------------ **

Harry felt drained from the previous night's experiences. As he sat in at the kitchen table, he watched Mrs. Weasley fuss over Fred and George and the rest of her children. At times like these, Harry found it was easier just to sit back and take it all in; to unwind and relax for once. His moment was shattered as Sasuke opened the door to the kitchen and walked in.

"Where's Naruto?" he yawned—a strange sight to behold.

The strange name seemed to echo in one ear and out the other. Harry looked blankly at Sasuke and said quite clearly, "Whut?"

Sasuke's lips twitched downwards and his eyebrows tilted upwards in suprise. He rubbed his face with the sleeve of his shirt. "Er, I mean, Yuubi-san. Where is he?"

"He left awhile ago." Charlie glanced away from the future DADA teacher.

There was an awful silence that had filled the kitchen before Sasuke said, in a very meek voice, "Oh… alright then…" He sat down in a vacant chair next to the window.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, dear." Mrs. Weasley tried to comfort the dark-haired man, "He said he'd be back in a day or so." Sasuke paused for a moment, and then nodded.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke watched as the Weasleys and Harry and Hermione began to pack for the journey to King's Cross and 'Platform nine and three quarters'—whatever the hell _that _was. Now came the part of the mission that Sasuke had dreaded from the very beginning. Teaching.

To say that Uchiha Sasuke was a child person was like saying Uchiha Itachi liked wearing pink tutu's and dancing around in his underwear... … … … … The point is: Sasuke isn't a child person.

------------ ---------

That night, as everyone else lay asleep; Sasuke took out his wand from the trunk of wizarding things that he had not touched since the day of their purchasing. Silently, the ninja slipped out of the window, and into the night air. There was no jutsu that he knew of that would let him scry someone; so he turned to magic.

His wand was an unusual one. Upon entering the shop, Olivander had been only too happy to explain what made the wands work (types of wood, the core of the wand, ect…) and Sasuke had told him that anything with a snake-type core would probably be best. Olivander had looked taken aback, but he produced a wand with the core of a basilisk fang for the Uchiha to try. The wand had blown up in his face. Hours later, Olivander had tried everything from basilisk spit, to rattlesnake tail. _ Nothing_ was working. Finally, the old wandmaker had tried a different approach. This time when Sasuke waved the wand, a spray of water came out of the tip and sparkled down; creating the illusion of a rainbow. "Oh, how pretty!" The old man had exclaimed, and then elbowed Sasuke in the ribs, "So you're a closet romantic, are you?"

It had taken all of his self control not to kill Olivander on the spot.

Looking back on it, Sasuke had a viable reason to be angry. Because honestly, the core of a unicorn? And a _female_ unicorn, at that! It just wasn't dignified! Rainbows and unicorns are not manly.

Pushing away the unwanted thoughts of rainbows and unicorns, Sasuke crouched in the Weasley's backyard and commanded his wand to show him Naruto. Nothing happened. Sasuke commanded his wand to show him Naruto again. Still nothing. For the next forty-two and a half minutes, Sasuke screamed, ranted, threatened, burned and cried; but still the wand remained impassive to his wishes. Finally, he gave up. As he pulled the covers over his form, Sasuke decided he would just have to wait until Yuubi-san—erm, Naruto—got back.

--------------------------------------------------- **Back in Konoha…**---------------------------------------------------------

Iruka had left for the academy minutes after Naruto had arrived in the kitchen. Sakura sat across from the aforementioned blonde and stared at him. He stared back.

"Are you really Naruto?" she finally asked.

"Yeah. Are you really Sakura-chan?" he countered.

"Oh shut up." Sakura grinned, but her eyes remained steely, "So what have you been up to? The life of an ANBU is quite exciting, I hear."

Naruto's face did the most peculiar thing then. It went completely serious. "So you found out. Who told you?"

"Tsunade." Sakura's grin never wavered, but her calm voice sounded forced, "She also told me you were the next Hokage."

"Are you mad?" his face was downcast.

"Why didn't you tell us?" The grin was gone. Sakura's voice was a harsh whisper, "Me, Sasuke and Kakashi. We're your teammates. We'd have understood."

"Would you?" Gray-blue eyes looked at her accusingly, "Admit it, Sakura. In your's and the villagers' eyes I was the screw up; the village fool, the outcast. I was the scapegoat for Konoha's misfortunes. I know who and what these people are underneath the masks they have created for everyday life." He paused long enough to close his eyes and inhale a long, shaky breath before continuing in a softer tone, "The truth is that I'm afraid. This is the only time in my life that I haven't had a mask of my own to hide behind, and I'm _terrified._ What if they still hate me? What if I mess up? There's no room for mistakes when you're running an entire village." Naruto put his face in his hands.

For awhile, Sakura didn't say anything. Finally, "What do you mean?" Naruto looked at her like she had gone insane. Sakura frowned and cursed herself mentally, "I meant; why did you say: 'What if the villagers **still** hate me.' Why would they hate you?"

Naruto scratched his head and mumbled something.

"Sorry, say that again?"

"Do you promise not to hate me forever?" Sakura had to smile; he sounded like a five year old.

"Of course I promise, don't be silly."

Naruto fidgeted for a moment before beginning…

------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ **King's Cross Station**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The journey to the platform had been relatively uneventful. Sasuke had entered the platform and thanked Arthur and Molly for their help; promising to keep an eye on Harry, Ron and Hermione. The Uchiha was now seated comfortably in a compartment in the front of the train. Ten minutes had passed since the train had left the station and he was bored out of his mind.

Finally Sasuke had decided to patrol the train from front to back. Once this was accomplished he had glanced at the clock. Only twenty minutes had passed. So he repeated this action—but this time he walked over the top of the train cars to add some excitement.

Yeah. Not much excitement to be found on the top of the train…. Just a lot of smoke…

Sasuke returned to his compartment. Upon entering, the first thing he saw was a man in a ANBU captain uniform. His heart did a funny leap in his chest before he realized that it was not his ANBU trainer (AKA: Naruto/Yuubi-san). This captain was not ranked as high as Naruto, though; Sasuke could tell by the animal on the mask—usually the higher ranked members of ANBU were given more colorful and detailed masks. Sasuke willed himself not to sigh, and sat down across from the ANBU.

"What do you want?" he snarled.

---------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**Konoha, Iruka's apartment…**

"Ooooh, so the Fourth is…" Sakura had gained a new respect for Naruto in the past hour. He had told her of the Kyuubi and of the Solstice—explaining his appearance. He had also told her of his secretive rise in the ninja ranks throughout the years.

"My father." Naruto looked crestfallen.

"Hey now, it's not so bad. I mean, really, you're the _Fourth's_ son!" Sakura threw an arm around his shoulders—they had long since moved to the living room. "You have no reason to be afraid of becoming the Hokage!"

"But that's just it." Naruto moved away and looked at her, "When you look at me, who do you see? Naruto or Arashi?"

"Arashi?" Sakura furrowed her brow at the name.

"Kazama Arashi was the Fourth Hokage's name." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Well, in that case; I see you Naruto, not the Fourth."

"Only because you know me," Naruto stalked to the mirror near the front door and looked in disgust at his face, "when the villagers see me as Hokage, they won't differentiate me from my father. If I screw up, then there will be twice the uproar." A thoughtful look crossed his face and he suddenly pulled a kunai from behind the mirror and fingered his long yellow hair. His eyes were oddly bright as he looked over his shoulder at Sakura, "Would you mind helping me with something?"

-------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Hey! Sorry it took me long to update o-OU I didn't mean to make all of this so choppy! Oh well…**

**Okay, more on the series of crossovers I will be doing ( I'm glad you all liked the idea so much! -squee-) :**

**The fics will be based mostly around Naruto and his ANBU instructor. I need you all to say who you think his instructor should be, and I will take that into consideration! **

**Also, one of the fics will be a crossover with FMA, it looks like we have a rabid following for FMANaruto crossovers… If you guys know any good ones (or have some yourself) LET ME KNOW! **

**I also REALLY wanted to do a crossover with one of the books from the Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce, it's an excellent read. Not to discourage you who haven't read it, I still want you to read my future fic, so I'll be putting up some basic guidelines and history up for those who don't know who Tamora Pierce is. **

**Once again R&R! Love to all you watchers, I saw the number of watchers multiply and I'm totally psyched! **

_**((TOTALLY SORRY THAT THE CHAPTER WASN'T AS LONG AS I PROMISED, BUT I WANTED TO GIVE YOU GUYS SOMETHING!))**_


	12. Chapter 12

-(kicks ff dot net)- Aw man! It's 1:32 pm on November 25, 2006 and I was going to submit this chapter now, but the site keeps screwing up, sorry guys!

-okay, it's 3:16 PM, let's try this again…

-10:18 PM …. Please wooorkkkkk….

-…. Again I have been thwarted…. It's now November 26, 2006

-November 27, 2006... IT WORKED!! YES!!

Looking back on my writing style, I've decided it sucks… So once this is all said and done (meaning the story), I will attempt to rewrite the entire thing! Just making thoughts for the future, nothing that will be happening too terribly soon… XD

**The Anbu and Teacher: Sasuke alone… (**Can you tell I've been playin FFX waaay too much?

"What do you want?"

"So hostile!" a chuckle bubbled from underneath the mask. "You don't even know whether I'm a friend or foe." A pause, and then the man continued on mournfully, "I suppose my humor is lost upon the younger generation—my earlier student didn't find me funny, either! Sit down, we need to talk."

"You wear the colors of Konoha, you must be on my side." Sasuke didn't sit, but moved to close the door.

"True, but if I do this." The ANBU pulled off the leaf patch on his armguard, revealing a sand dial. "Now I'm from sand!"

"What do you want?" Sasuke was losing patience with the man's antics.

"Just to talk." The man leaned back and tilted his head to one side, peering at Sasuke. "Sit down."

Sasuke sat.

"Good. Now we can begin." Jiraiya removed his mask and wig.

* * *

**Konoha Chronicles: Naruto Style**

"How do I look? Tell me the truth." Naruto chewed a thumbnail apprehensively.

"Honestly?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Just tell me what you think, Sakura!"

"You look like a whole different person."

"Is that a good thing or not?" Naruto frowned at Sakura's reflection in the mirror.

"I do believe it is." Sakura brushed a strand of yellow hair from Naruto's shoulder and went into the kitchen. "I'm going to find a broom for the hair on the floor." She returned a moment later and wrinkled her nose. "Naruto you wreak. Go take a shower."

"I do?"

"Yes. I don't know why I didn't notice it before." She covered her nose with one hand and pushed him towards the hall with the other.

Naruto made a face at her behind the bathroom door and began to undress. The flow of the water set his mind at ease and he let it wander as his body continued the repetitive motion of washing his hair. _Sasuke must be freaking out right now, _Naruto closed his eyes as he leaned back under the showerhead, _Can't blame him though, can I? Lying to him all this time…_ He swore under his breath and shook water out of his eyes. _I guess my chances are mostly shot to hell then._

* * *

Quiet as a mouse—which are not as quiet as you might think—Naruto slipped out into the hall, careful to keep a tight hold on the towel wrapped around his midriff, but before he could go to his room, he had to pass by the living room. Normally a feat that would take little to no brain power, it now presented a problem for the blonde ninja. For you see, it was not a question of _what_ was in the living room, but rather a _who_.

Iruka's living room was the largest room in the apartment. It had two, worn-out black couches in the center of the room, and the floor was cedar that had long lost its shine from years of travel. On these couches sat Lee, Neji, Sakura, Ino and Hinata. Luckily, the couches were faced away from the doorway and just as Naruto was about to make a run for it, Iruka walked in holding a tray full of tea. He smiled and set the tray down in front of his visitors and past pupils.

As he began to pour the hot water into the cups, Iruka called out, "Naruto, how do you want your tea?"

_Arg! Caught!_ Naruto clutched the towel around his waist tighter and stepped into the doorway with a self-conscious grin. "Ah, no tea for me today, Iruka. Thanks, though." Iruka simply nodded and continued to pour the tea as if it was the most natural thing in the world to have a half-naked man in the middle of his living room in the midst of a room full of guests.

"My gods, Naruto, is that you?" Ino's eyes traveled over him, and Naruto unconsciously gripped his towel tighter. "You look…"

"Much different." Neji supplied the word for her.

"I guess so." Naruto edged towards his room, slightly. "If you'll excuse me, I should probably get some clothes on." He made to leave, but was stopped by Hinata.

"Hold on." She bore down on Naruto, forcing him to walk backwards until he ran into the wall and had no place to go. "Now tell me, what's all this business about you and Hero?"

"What? That? Oh, it's nothing, Hinata, nothing, I swear! He's only a business acquaintance!"

"What sort of business?" Hinata began, but quickly simmered down, "Oh never mind, I'm sure you know what you're doing."

Naruto nodded and took advantage of the moment of calm to slip away from Hinata and dash into his room and shut the door.

* * *

Kakashi hurt—all over. He cracked open one blood-shot eye and bit back a sound of surprise. The man in the black cloak was hovering over him with his devilish red eyes. This time he had a friend with him—a rather blue-looking fellow with an identical black cloak. Looking the two over, Kakashi concluded that he was in no condition to fight; from what the copy ninja could gather: he was sprawled on the ground and without his mask. The setting was different; it had a foreign feel to it.

The man with the red eyes knelt down next to him and opened Kakashi's right eye completely, looking into it. Kakashi matched his gaze as best he could. His vision was blurring sporadically, he couldn't move, and his hearing was on the fritz. The blue man pulled a roll of something white from his cloak and supposedly began to instruct the shorter male on how to bandage a long cut on Kakashi's left arm. As they worked, Kakashi's fuzzy mind could only make out small snippets of their conversation.

"… awake?"

"Yea... should've gone easier on…" The shorter man's lips moved and Kakashi was reminded of the dubbed shows back in Konoha that Iruka liked to take him to.

"…chi, what were you thin….?"

"…don't know, I…. … … ving a little fun…"

"…tever, just give him the antido…" _Antidote? Oh right…I was poisoned…_

"… bossy! Why'd…. partnered with you…..?"

"Just do it, Itachi."

"Itachi?" Kakashi's voice was scratchy and hardly audible as he suddenly recognized the infamous wielder of the sharingan and older brother to his pupil. Itachi smirked in that infuriating way of his and stuck a syringe into Kakashi's forearm. His vision blurred and the last thing the copy ninja heard was:

"Sweet dreams, Kakashi. Tell my little brother I say hello, and let Naruto know that he's got three months—he'll understand what I mean."

* * *

**Jiraiya and Sasuke at Hogwarts…**

Considering everything Sasuke had bee through in the past forty-eight hours, I think he handled meeting one of the three legendary sannin in person quite admirably. I mean honestly, I know the boy had met Orochimaru once before, but it wasn't exactly in person—and really, who, I ask you, WHO could compare to me?!

------

Jiraiya was a man of action and impulse. If something felt right to him, he was bound to do it—this is the main reason why Naruto trained with him for a few good years of his life—and it is also the reason why the hermit is now sitting across from a very confused-looking Sasuke in the comfort of Professor McGonagall's office. Jiraiya is also the biggest pervert on this side of the western hemisphere—this is why he picked up ealry on about the not-so-subtle attraction that his former pupil had developed for the dark-eyed Uchiha.

"So… run this by me again… You came here because you decided you were going to train me in the ancient art of… seduction…?" Sasuke looked away from the manically grinning sage as his face turned a shade pinker.

"That's it exactly! You can't win over Naruto without _some_ form of help!" Jiraiya positively squirmed with anticipation and he pointed out with glee, "Looks can only get you so far in life—and with a boy like Naruto, you'll need more than that to get into his bed!"

Sasuke was gripping the arms of the chair he was sitting in so tight that the upholstery was beginning to rip. "Who said I wanted to?!" His face was positively burning.

Jiraiya looked at him in surprise, "Well, don't you?"

"Well… Yes, but why do you care?" Sasuke picked at the chair to cover up his embarrassment.

"Because I only want what's best for my grandson." Jiraiya's face softened for a moment, and then the mischievous look leaked back into his eyes and he clapped his hands together, startling a flinch out of Sasuke. "Right then, you should get changed into your uniform. The banquet will be starting soon and it won't reflect well on Konoha if you're late." Jiraiya made to leave, but Sasuke stopped him.

"Wait, what about my, um, lessons?" the ninja's ears burned with embarrassment.

"Oh, don't you worry about that, I'll find you later." Jiraiya's grin was almost frightening, and Sasuke began to wonder what exactly he had gotten himself into.

* * *

**Konoha Chronicles: Final Goodbyes and an Unexpected Hello**

Hours passed and before Naruto knew it, it was evening. He had meant to leave several hours ago, but couldn't break away from the questions and stories his friends and Iruka all seemed to have. Finally, as the clock struck ten, Naruto finally excused himself and changed into his ANBU uniform (newly washed, courtesy of Iruka). When he returned, everyone fell silent at his appearance.

"Leaving so soon?" Iruka asked.

"I shouldn't have even come back, sorry." Naruto swallowed the lump that had suddenly lodged itself in his throat.

"It was good to see you, Naruto." Sakura smiled and stood. Everyone else followed her example.

One by one, they took their turn to say goodbye to Naruto and leave (after thanking Iruka for his hospitality). Finally, only Iruka was left. Naruto gave him a wavery smile and hugged him tightly.

"Come back alive, you hear me?" Iruka whispered.

"I will." Naruto replied and let him go. "I'll see you around." With that said, he leapt out the window and out of sight, towards Tsunade's office.

Iruka watched him go, feeling more lonely than ever.

* * *

Maito Gai claims to have the best hearing in the entire village. He boasts that he has heard all sounds that are to be heard, including some of the nastier ones, but as he was jogging (read: sprinting) along his normal workout path later in the evening, he heard something he that he had not heard in a long, long time. He skidded to a stop and listened. The sound of panting was faint—it was by a stroke of luck that he even heard it at all, really, and it was coming from the bushes. Parting the leaves away, Gai noticed a rather odd color in the bush; it was almost silver, but it was very dirty silver. This time a small moan emanated from the bush and the silvery thing turned out to be a person, and that person was none other than Hatake Kakashi. Shaking with the effort, he raised his head high enough to show Gai his right eye.

"Ir…uka…" He gasps, "take me… to Iruka…"

* * *

**The Grand Hall**

Sasuke sat rigidly beside Madame Pomfry, the medic, and a rather angry looking wizard called Professor Snape who was the potions master. After a moment of quiet consideration, Sasuke decided that not joining Orochimaru was the best decision he ever made, because he was sure that after a year of enduring the snake sannin, he would probably have looked like Snape—he made a mental note to find the ANBU that had knocked him unconscious and give them a kiss right in front of the entire village, if that's what it took to show his gratitude.

"So," Madame Pomfry leaned over to him and gestured around, "what do you think?"

"It's… different…" Sasuke wasn't about to let her know that the floating candles in the Great Hall, combined with the ceiling that was bewitched to mimic the sky outside(it was raining now) was the coolest thing since sliced bread—it would ruin his rep. So he waited, and he watched as the first year students were pushed to the front of the hall and a gigantic hat was thrust upon their head. Sasuke unconsciously slipped into a daydream, keeping his eyes locked on the ceiling above. What was he daydreaming about? We'll never know, because at that moment Dumbledore decided to speak.

The headmaster's speech was long and impressive; the old man's voice was almost hypnotic. "And furthermore, I would like to add that Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament this year, and for the wellbeing of the students that will be arriving, I have taken the liberty of hiring a guard—and no, he is not a dementor." The Headmaster chuckled at his joke. The doors of the great hall opened with a bang and two figures hobbled in. Sasuke perked up immediately, the ANBU supporting a grisly old man was not Jiraiya.

"Speaking of the guard," Dumbledore gestured grandly at Naruto and the old man, "this would be him now. I see you've found Professor Moody?"

Naruto nodded and helped Professor Moody up to the table before leaning up against the wall and looking around. The students were abuzz with questions and mutters of discontent, and Professor McGonagall had to send sparks out of her wand to get them to listen.

As Dumbledore introduced Moody to the rest of the student population, Ron leaned over to Harry and Hermione. "That's 'Mad-eye' Moody, my dad had to go up to his house the other day cause Moody thought someone was attackin' him. He's a bit crazy."

"I thought Sasuke was going to be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year." Harry frowned.

"I guess he's helping Moody." Ron shrugged.

"Hey, does Yuubi-san look different to you?" Hermione said suddenly.

"He has his mask on, duh." Ron quipped.

"No, it looks like he's cut his hair," Hermione frowned at Ron and Harry, who was trying not to laugh, "and he looks more… I don't know, tired."

"When did you become this observant, Hermione?" Harry raised a dark eyebrow at her.

Hermione turned red and mumbled that she had been taking art classes, "…you start noticing things after awhile…"

"… Let the feast begin!" Their thoughts were diverted as food appeared before them in huge quantities and various forms. Sasuke did not notice the food. He didn't notice that Professor Snape had moved and Professor Moody had taken his place. He didn't even think it odd that Professor Moody was drinking some vile-smelling liquid from his canteen. No, none of that mattered right now. Sasuke only had eyes for Naruto. After minutes under his gaze, Naruto finally pushed away from the wall and strode over to Sasuke's spot at the table. Carefully, Naruto bent down on the pretext of grabbing an apple from his plate. Sasuke almost missed the whispered:

"We can talk later."

Sasuke hesitated, and then nodded slightly. "What're you noddin' for, boy?" The low growling voice of Moody cut through ninjas' silent encounter like a knife. Sasuke turned his head to glare at him and Moody laughed, "What's your name, boy?"

"Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke replied coldly.

"Suzy Omaha?" Moody guffawed, and his odd colored eye rolled around to look Sasuke up and down, "That's an odd name for a boy, but hey, I like your spunk, Suzy."

"No, my name is SASUKE UCHIHA, not Suzy." Sasuke snarled, repressing the urge to recoil from the eye's stare.

"What was that, Suzy? I wasn't listening."

"Listen you," Luckily for Moody; his sentence was overpowered by the sudden surge of talking by the students. Naruto had stretched, and supposedly the girls thought it was damn sexy.

Somehow, the evening ended without any bodily harm being done to any of the teachers. Naruto apparently thought that mistaking Sasuke for Suzy was funny, though he tried hard to hide it. The students began to file out of the grand hall, some hiding yawns as they went. Naruto moved after them silently. Sasuke watched him go. The students stopped their chattering for a moment and waited to see what would happen.

Naruto turned at the door and looked back at Sasuke, who hadn't moved. He motioned for him to come with a slight tilt of his head. Sasuke crossed his arms and sat back, glaring at him. In the silence, an exasperated sigh escaped from the ANBU and he strode up to the head table and held out his hand. For a moment Sasuke was frozen with indecision, finally he took the proffered hand tentatively.

Wrong decision. Naruto flung the Uchiha neatly over the table and in between the rows of tables. Before Sasuke had a chance to recover he was picked up and flopped over Naruto's strong (and bony, owch!) shoulders.

* * *

I just figured out how to work the line thingies... -falls over-

_Oh noez! Cliffhanger!!! _

_Awright! I like how this chapter went, I got where I needed to be and I did it all in eight pages! SWEET! You guys have NO IDEA how long I've been waiting to call Sasuke Suzy, it's ridiculous… I almost made the entire crossover just to use that one line XD._

_Mkay**, I still need suggestions for crossovers, you guys!! **_

_And don't suggest FMA, it's already decided that I will do one of those! _

_I love you all, thanks for all the reviews!! The story almost has 300! Woot! Let's get it up to four hundred!! (wishful thinking, but it would be pretty cool…)_


	13. Chapter 13

This chapter has been continued in the next one, so click the button once more!! bwahahahaa


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay, so I deleted the last chap, and here it is, in it's _completed_ form!!**

The first part is basically the same, but I added a few things and made it run smoother. XD enjoy!

_

* * *

"What the hell is going on here?" Sasuke was livid with rage. How dare he do that?! Didn't Naruto know what Sasuke would have to do to gain back the respect of the children after a stunt like that?_

"It's all the magic in this school," Naruto set him on the ground and began to fiddle with a painting, "it's screwing up your equilibrium and your chakra. You should be back to normal tomorrow." The painting emitted a creaking moan and swung open. Sasuke raised an eyebrow in question. "Your room," was all Naruto said before gathering chakra in his feet and disappearing from sight.

* * *

Though he had promised to talk to Sasuke later, Naruto made a beeline for the grounds before the sun had even began to rise the next day. He tried to tell himself he wasn't avoiding it, he was just surveying the area for possible holes in Hogwarts' defense. The grass was covered in a thick blanket of dew and mist as Naruto walked, and he shivered as the water brushed off onto his sandaled feet.

Everything was dark; except for the skyline that was illuminated softly by the light of the huge cities, hundreds and hundreds of miles away. The black clouds above loomed over the castle like some kind of primordial beast getting ready for the kill. Even the trees looked eviler than usual, their jagged peaks tearing into the horizon on all sides. The _plish plosh_ of two frogs in the lake did not calm his nerves. Naruto found his hand reaching for his weapons pouch, but stopped himself. He was being silly, there was nothing threatening out here, except for two overly excited amphibians.

-

Sasuke woke to the sound of a persistent tapping on the outside of his door. What could Naruto possibly want at this time in the morning? He can let himself in, the voices in Sasuke's head finally decided, go back to sleep.

* * *

This was a bad idea and Neville told them so. "What?" Ron asked teasingly, "You don't want to meet the new professor?"

"We aren't looking for Sasuke, Ron." Hermione reminded him, "We're looking for Yuubi-san."

"I can't find him in the castle." Harry was holding his lit wand in his teeth, scanning the Marauder's Map, "How do you spell Yuubi-san?"

"Have you tried looking for just 'Yuubi'?" Hermione questioned, "The 'san' is just a prefix in Japanese."

"Thank you, Miss Know-it-all," Ron said sarcastically, "but maybe he spells it some funky way and we've skipped over it."

"Or maybe that's not really his name." Neville put out. The three stopped and looked at him for a moment before Ron finally broke the silence.

"Neville, I don't care what Snape says, you are a friggin' genius." He said.

"Good call, Neville," Harry quipped, "but what's Yuubi-san's real name?"

"Na- something." Hermione said, and blushed when they looked at her, "What? You know, Sasuke called him Na-something that one time at your house, Ron."

"Yeah, that's right!" Harry snapped his fingers, sounding odd with the wand still clenched between his teeth, "Nawooto." _Thud._

"What?" _thud. _

_Thud. _

Harry removed his wand from his mouth, "Naruto, I think that's what he called him."

"Are you sure?" Ron still looked doubtful.

_Thud thud thud._

"Hey, do you guys hear that?" Neville asked apprehensively.

The four stopped and listened as the thudding sound grew in volume. As they rounded the corner a man with a long white ponytail, and wearing some ridiculous costume, was banging on a painting, looking less than happy.

"Is he a ghost?" Neville finally asked in a whisper. "Nah, he's not transparent," Ron whispered back.

Finally the painting swung open and a man draped in a blanket came out, radiating bloodlust. "What are you doing here, Jiraiya?" he snarled, shifting uncomfortably on the cold stone; only his head and bare feet were visible under the blanket to the four students standing only feet away.

"Lesson time!" The man grinned lecherously.

Sasuke, for it was indeed Sasuke, looked taken aback, then angry, "Do you even _know_ what time it is?"

Jiraiya looked down at his sandals and up at the ceiling and finally over to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville. "Do any of you know what time it is?" he asked.

"Three." Neville answered.

"Three." Jiraiya told Sasuke, "I would've been here earlier, but Naruto would've sensed my presence in the castle."

Sasuke deadpanned. "How the hell did he ever survive with you as a master?"

"I don't know," Jiraiya looked thoughtful, and he waggled his eyebrows suggestively. The perverted grin was back.

"You are an ass." Sasuke snarled, but let him into his room. Turning to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville, he glared and said, "Go back to your dormitory, students aren't supposed to roam the halls."

They obeyed with fervor.

* * *

The feeling of unease never left him as Naruto strode through the forest. Once, the stray call of a bird shocked him so badly he actually made a noise. Not a big noise, mind you, just a small 'eep', and that was smothered by his mask anyway. Finally, after fifteen minutes of walking, he sat down on a fallen tree and forced himself to relax. He really missed having the heightened senses of the Kyuubi. Being able to tell where and what was out there by smell and sound alone really helped, in fact—

_THWUNK. _

Moments later, pain flared through his right shoulder, and Naruto gritted his teeth as he dodged into the undergrowth; avoiding two more arrows, but not the third, which embedded itself next to the other arrow in his shoulder. Vicious hissing sounds from all sides indicated he was surrounded, and Naruto dropped to the ground to avoid the flying projectiles.

The adrenaline pumping through his veins canceled out the pain; and as Naruto was getting ready to make a break for it, he was lifted off the ground and brought face to face with a very angry-looking creature that resembled a man. But his features were too angled, and his eyes too dark to be any sort of human that Naruto had ever seen; or maybe it was that half of him simply was not there, and instead there was the bottom half of a horse.

"Um… Parler?" (A/N: in French, the 'er' is pronounced 'eh' and it literally means to talk)

* * *

Naruto wasn't sure when he had been knocked unconscious, but when he came to, it was still dark, the surroundings were much different and the half-horse thing was gone. Thick green vines encircled his body in a deadly embrace, fettering him to an ancient-looking tree. Naruto shifted uncomfortably and yelped as a sharp throb raced through his nerves. When he twisted his head to the right, he encountered two shafts of wood still embedded in his shoulder. The soft clicking of hooves alerted Naruto of his captors' return. Gently, he put his head back and pretended to be knocked out. There were only two of them this time, and they sounded like they were arguing.

"We should kill the … now, brother." Naruto did not recognize the word that was spoken, but he didn't like the way the horse-man said it.

"What are you thinking, Kareen? This may be the only chance we have to question one of _them_."

Them? Well, that's interesting… Naruto listened on.

"That sort of thinking got Mito killed, Rook. Ya understand that?" Kareen's voice was lower than Rook's, and his accent was Jamaican; Naruto took him to be the older of the two.

"You're too cautious to be a centaur, go join a quilting club." Rook snorted in a horse-like fashion.

"Fool, we centaurs are diviners of tha very heavens themselves! We do not—we _choose _not to fight; but under extreme circumstances such as these, we must. I am a creature of habit; and old habits are hard to change, so sorry ah'm so cautious." Kareen's harsh words whipped through the air like a lash.

Silence grew thick in Naruto's ears before Rook finally apologized. Once again, the words spoken were of a different language, a language that had died a long time ago but was resurrected in this small alcove of trees; it sounded archaic, but the syllables spoke to part of Naruto's soul. And just for a moment, Naruto let himself smile; not a big one, mind you, just a small curve of his lips and then it was gone.

The speech stopped abruptly and a strong hand that was much too large to belong to a human encircled his neck and squeezed. Naruto coughed as the flow of oxygen seeping into his lungs was cut off. Blue eyes fluttered open to glare at the hand's owner, and deep black ovals blinked back in surprise. The hand was immediately removed and the centaur backed off, looking scared. His brother, Naruto couldn't place their voices with their faces, was holding an ANBU mask in his hands, making it look smaller and much less fearsome than it really was.

"What do you want with me?" Naruto growled, keeping his features calm and slanting his eyes into what he knew was a fearsome stare, never taking his gaze away from the centaur who had just tried to kill him. "If you wanted me dead, I'm afraid the proper way to choke someone to death is to wait until they've _stopped_ breathing."

"Kareen, his eyes," The big one was looking in awe at him, "they aren't…" He suddenly turned and bolted from sight.

This entire scenario was beginning to give Naruto a migraine, "What?" he snapped at the centaur holding his mask.

"You aren't a daemon…" Kareen's voice was laced with uncertainty as he moved towards the ANBU. Black hair framed his light brown features, stopping at his eyebrows, accentuating almond-shaped, golden eyes. His hair was long, but not yet long enough to reach his broad shoulders; beads and feathers were abundant in it, making him look more exotic and clicking together softly as he moved from for-leg to for-leg.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Naruto snorted, and bit the inside of his cheek as his shoulder throbbed again.

"No, I am sure," Kareen's smooth features wrinkled as he frowned, "your eyes do not glow with the darkness. I can tell." He tilted his head back and looked upwards at the clouds, still dark in their anger, and then closed his eyes. "Itachi has lied to us," he whispered.

"Itachi?" Naruto felt something awful in the pit of his stomach.

"It was necessary." A voice spoke from the top of the tree. Red eyes glowed for a moment, and suddenly Kareen was on the ground, a cut running from his right shoulder to his left hip, a dark pool of blood seeping from the wound. Itachi wiped his blade on Naruto's black tank top and smiled at him, "Hello, Hokage-sama, I was hoping to run into you."

"That was a bit over the top, Itachi-kun, I am not Hokage yet." Naruto ignored the dying centaur and focused on the killer in front of him.

"My apologies, I only wished to flatter you, Hokage-sama. After all, you are much, much more skilled than the current Godaime," Itachi was obviously amused; Naruto spit at him, hitting him on the cheek; and as he wiped the offending liquid off, Itachi's eyes hardened, but the smirk never faded. "My, what a mouth you have on you, Hokage-sama." He drawled, reaching up to caress Naruto's jaw line; his cold touch made Naruto's stomach reel and he swallowed nervously. The hand stopped as it reached his cheek, Itachi sounded mildly surprised, "No scars?" Then the smirk was gone, replaced by something ten times more terrifying: a combination of a grin and a kunai in his hand. "I can fix that."

* * *

"Oi, easy there guard, jus' stay down an' rest." A gigantic hand pushed him down as he fought to stand. "Here, drink some o' this." A cup was pushed into his hands and the gigantic grounds keeper named Hagrid poured something that was steaming into it. "You nearly gave me a heart attack, what with the screaming, an' all—drink yer tea, boy."

"What's going on?" It was more of an order than a question.

"I could ask you tha same thing!" Hagrid's face looked genuinely surprised, "I found you all cut up in tha forest with blood nearby; so I naturally took you back to me hut since I figured you didn' want yer identity bein' known, an' all." Hagrid apologetically emptied a bag onto Naruto's lap.

Silently Naruto picked up a fractured piece of what used to be his ANBU mask and swept the rest of the fragmented pieces back into the bag Hagrid was holding open, "Throw it in the fire." He said.

"Sorry," Hagrid began, but Naruto stopped him by saying, "It's not your fault."

The sounds of feet accompanied by complaints made Hagrid rise to his full height and go to the window, "Looks like me class is here," the giant turned back to Naruto, "you need ta go to the medical ward. I bandaged up yer face as best I could, but that's not sayin' much."

Once the man was gone, Naruto looked around the hut and decided he liked it; the bed was tucked in a corner opposite of the door, and random knickknacks hung from the ceiling and the walls. He stood and the room reeled for a moment before his vision cleared. Carefully he made his way outside, using the back door in hopes that he would not come face to face with Hagrid's class. Something shiny caught his attention as he snuck out the door—it was a girl's wristwatch and it was reflecting into his eyes every time the brunette shifted on her feet. It was transfixing; Naruto couldn't take his eyes off it.

Alas, the curse of being in ANBU! Since the beginning of time, every ninja has had a latent desire to collect shiny things; not to blame them, seeing as they had grown up with shiny things everywhere. (ie; Kunai, shuriken, swords…ect.) In the ANBU training program, they call this instinct up to the surface to aid the trainee in finding hidden weapons or nearly invisible trip-wires. Most ninja who are not in ANBU (say a chunin, for example) are able to live their lives in relative peace, perhaps occasionally distracted by the random penny in the street; but other than that, normal. ANBU, however, are a completely different ballgame; their basic instinct is not only notice the shiny thing, but neutralize it—referring once again to traps. Off the training grounds there are many things that sparkle in the sunlight, not including windows, and most ANBU inexplicably find themselves collecting random objects that happen to catch their fancy—aka: that penny that used to be distracting the chunin is now in the pocket of the ANBU. Naruto has a small box that he keeps his collection in under his bed. Kakashi has a similar box that is located somewhere near the memorial stone.

In his moment of weakness, Naruto had been spotted. The girl stared at him for a moment while the reality sank in, then she squealed and pointed at him, jabbing her friend in the ribs to look. Naruto gathered chakra in his feet and departed in a blink of an eye, giving the appearance that he had 'disappeared'. Unfortunately for him, gossip in Hogwarts was even faster than gossip in Konoha.

* * *

Hope you guys liked it!! The next chapter will definitely be longer!!

R&R to tell me your thoughts, be they good or bad!!


	15. Chapter 15

**Awright guys, thanks to everyone who's reading this, and thanks for all the watchers out there!! I'm a total sucker for stats, and currently (04/01/07) they are listed, as of chapter 14:**

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Chapter 15

The word had spread like wildfire through the school; by fourth period the bulk of the student body was buzzing with rumors, some false, some true.

"He's got the face of an angel, baby blue eyes and freckles!" Hermione relayed with a blush to Harry and Ron at the beginning of their transfiguration class. "They're saying his voice is like the chorus of a thousand baritone rockstars!" The girls around Hermione giggled and squealed in their excitement. Harry looked at Ron; the redhead rolled his eyes and silently mimicked the girls, mouthing the word 'blah' over and over.

"Hey, I've go freckles," Dean Shamas piped up, leaning towards the girls and trying to look debonair, "how 'bout giving me a go?"

There was a pause in the conversation before Dean was sent back to his seat fighting against the waves of laughter. "Good try, Dean." Harry sympathized. Sean merely shrugged, sobered by the girls' rejection.

* * *

Madame Pomfry had been meditating on one foot when her concentration was broken by a knock at the infirmary door. The kindly nurse wobbled to her feet and hobbled over to the door, hoping it wasn't another third or fourth year that had tried to curse off their acne. Instead of a student, a blonde man stood in the doorway; he looked miserably up at her through deep blue eyes. His face looked like it had been bandaged up poorly and Madame Pomfry could practically _see_ the infection taking root, her fingers twitched slightly as she guided the man onto a cot.

"I don't believe I've seen you around the school, what's your name?" she tried to make small talk as she opened cabinets, looking for disinfectant. Finally she found the vile of purple liquid in the last cabinet she looked in, she set it on the bedside table and reached on her tip-toes to grab for cotton balls.

"I'm th' new guard," the man said sleepily.

"Oh, so you are," Madame Pomfry said kindly, setting the cotton balls next to disinfectant, "now let's see what we're dealin' with under these." She began to peel off the cloth and felt the guard tense up, "Why don't ya tell me what happened, it'll take your mind off the wound."

To the nurse's surprise, the man looked down and a blush dusted his cheeks, "Was caught off-guard in th' forest," was all he would say on the subject.

"By what?" Madame Pomfry watched in slight horror as the bandages came off; three horizontal cuts had been etched into each side of the guard's face, making six in all. The wounds had not yet coagulated and some blood still flowed from the gashes. "I didn't think anything in the forest would do something like this!" Madame Pomfry turned away to reach for the cotton-balls.

"I din't either…" The guard suddenly convulsed, groaning between his teeth and gripping at his sides, "That damn-arg," he curled into a ball on the sheets, "h-he poisn'd me," he gasped as Madame Pomfry whipped out her wand and called for her assistant. Hanotaro, the assistant, was a kind-hearted boy who had just graduated from Hogwarts last year. When he arrived, Madame Pomfry was struggling to keep the guard from thrashing around on the bed; Hanotaro dutifully held the blonde down as Madame Pomfry caught her breath.

The guard's hand clenched onto Hanotaro's shirt and pulled him close, "Get Sasuke." The command was followed by a groan, "Feels like 'm on fire," the guard's body jerked upwards and then fell limp.

"Well, go get him!" Madame Pomfry shoved Hanotaro slightly, "He's the assistant to Professor Moody, his last name's Uchiha."

"But why? Shouldn't I stay here and help you?" Hanotaro was confused.

"He's obviously traumatized; he probably wants to see a familiar face." Madame Pomfry was checking the guard's pulse, she frowned and Hanotaro paused at the door, "You might want to bring some ice on your way back, dearie."

* * *

"Aren't you excited?" Hermione questioned her male companions, tapping her pencil on the desk, they were still waiting for Professor Moody to show up, "We finally get to hear about Yuubi-san's _face!"_

"Stop being such a girl, Hermione," Harry chided her, "we've already seen his face close up, remember? At the burrow."

"Oh… that's right." Hermione looked like a third grader that had just let go of her balloon for a moment and looked back to see it rising into the sky, never to be seen again.

"Oh, come on 'Mione," Ron jabbed Harry in the ribs and glared at him, "I'm sure that Harry's just having a bad day, don't take it like that."

Harry glared back, and was about to reply with a scathing comment when Mad-eye Moody finally made his appearance. The man made an intimidating figure as he clumped down the stairs from his office and to the front of the room.

"Good-morning, little ones," he growled, he face twisting into a grotesque parody of what could be called a smile. "My name's Professor Moody and I'll be teaching you to protect yourselves against the not-so-friendly forces out there." His voice was mockingly sweet as he addressed the students. The magical eye swirled around to fix itself upon each one of the children in the room, pausing long enough to make the boy or girl in question squirm before moving along to the next victim. Finally its gaze rested on Harry; Moody kept talking, but the eye didn't move, even when Harry shifted under its unwavering stare.

"NO READING MAGAZINES IN MY CLASS!" Moody roared, and from behind Harry Lavender squeaked.

"Now," Moody continued as if nothing had happened, "I would like you all to meet my assistant, Mr. Sasuke Uchiha." The class leaned forward in anticipation as the door the hallway opened, and slumped back in disappointment as Madame Pomfry bustled into the room.

"I'm so sorry, Professor!" she wrung her hands together, "I'm afraid Mr. Uchiha's friend is in the medical ward and he said won't be leavin' his side until he wakes up!"

"His friend?" the Professor raised a grizzled eyebrow and the magical eye swiveled lazily up into the back of his head.

"The guard, Mr. Yuubi-san." Madame Pomfry looked as if she was about to be sick and averted her gaze to anywhere but Professor Moody's face.

"Oh really?" Professor Moody's magical eye snapped back into place and glared at the nurse, "Well I trust you'll give him my regards. Oh, and let him know that if he doesn't return to class right _now_ then he can go find a _new _job as an assistant to the potions master," Moody growled and his eye turned to Harry, "Potter, go and make sure _Professor _Uchiha doesn't get lost on his way back." Harry frowned softly; he wanted to hear the rest of the lesson; Fred and George had spoken of nothing but Defense Against the Dark Arts the day before.

Then again, the feeling of having a magical eye boring into you is a great motivator; in the hallway Harry struggled to keep up with Madame Pomfry's bustling pace.

* * *

Sasuke watched mutely as the nurse's assistant held a pack of ice to Naruto's head. Moments after arriving with Hanotaro he had promptly asked what the hell they were doing and why hadn't they given Naruto the antidote yet? Luckily, the poison was slow-working and even an academy student could've spotted it's symptoms within moments and provided the antidote. This encounter did nothing but further Sasuke's belief that most of the wizarding populace was dumb in the head. The only downside was that the antidote was just as, if not more so, slow-working as the poison, it made the effects last over long periods of time—this made it very popular in the field of torture.

Three horizontal cuts on the sides of Naruto's face made Sasuke's insides writhe with anger as he helped the assistant, Hanotaro, disinfect them in preparation for the healing. Sasuke could only thank whatever gods that may or may not exist that Naruto was unconscious, for the purple liquid steamed as it was applied. He wasn't sure whether it was helping the recovery process or not, from the looks of things, it wasn't. But Sasuke's mother had always taught him that some things may look worse than they really are, and he had been so young and naïve that he had imprinted the words into his heart and here he was, _years_ later, repeating the words she had once spoken.

"So," Hanotaro said nervously, snapping Sasuke out of his reverie, "why'd you choose to be the DADA assistant?"

"I didn't." Sasuke sat back and closed his eyes. Conversations were annoying, he decided. 'How's the weather?', 'isn't that dress lovely?', 'I love your hair'; _BORING, BORING, BORING_, Sasuke's mind screamed. He hated always prancing around the subject and having to be 'considerate' of what may offend someone else, it was just so much easier to be blunt and get it over with.

"Oh?" Hanotaro looked surprised, "So how did you come by it?"

"Peer-pressure," Sasuke replied, thinking of Tsunade.

Thankfully Madame Pomfry had returned just then with a very out-of-breath Harry Potter in tow. She had gone to tell Moody that Sasuke wasn't going to show up, but if the look on her face meant anything, Professor Moody hadn't been pleased. Harry, in the meantime, had finally regained his breath. The fourteen-year-old pulled himself up to his highest height, and puffed up his chest, and then deflated.

"Um, Professor Moody said to come back to class or go help Sna—I, I mean _Professor_ Snape, of course, Madame Pomfry," Harry quailed under the nurse's glare.

There was a pause as Sasuke weighed his options. On one hand, he wanted to know what happened to Naruto; on the other, Tsunade would throw him off the Hokage monument if he disobeyed orders and got himself fired. Sasuke knew what the Hokage was capable of when she was angry, he had seen what happened to Kakashi when he had replaced all of Tsunade's liquor with root beer as a joke; she hadn't thought it was funny. Sasuke had been sitting in the waiting room outside of the meeting chamber—getting ready to apply for ANBU—when he had heard an awful yell and Kakashi had come flying through the wall, obscenities and pottery following him as he went.

Yes, of the two, Tsunade was decidedly the more terrifying… Okay, so that's what Sasuke wants to be the reason, and really, he _is_ scared of the thought of Tsunade in a rage; but in all honesty what it all comes down to is the potions master. It's not even Severus Snape's fault; but ever since they had met, Sasuke found that even thinking about the man just freakedhim the **hell** out.

So with all the excitement of Louis XVI being led towards the guillotine(¹), Sasuke trudged out of the room. Harry followed, dismayed that his new professor's gate was twice as fast as Madame Pomfry's. _Finally,_ Harry thought_, a chance to talk to talk with Sasuke alone! _

"So, Mr. Uchiha," He panted as they rounded a corner, "who was that weird man at your room? I've never seen him around the castle before."

Harry almost missed the reply, Sasuke wasn't a loud sort of person, he had noticed as much during the stay at the burrow. During the few days spent with the man, he had hardly uttered a word unless provoked by Naruto, who brought up an entirely different set of questions! The strange guard was outgoing and cheerful the entire stay at the burrow, and _oh my god, he was in the infirmary!!! _Harry's brain collided with his common sense and luckily his mouth had the good idea to keep this information to itself.

"So, a writer, you said?" Harry's mouth blurted instead, "Why's he visiting you? Are you writing a book?"

"No." The reply masked the shudder that rippled through his spine. Sasuke had been trying to forget about his 'encounter' with Jiraiya and had been slightly successful in his attempts, until Harry had brought it up, that is...

* * *

"Loosen up, Sasuke! Geez, I don't think I've ever met anyone with a stick shoved so far up his ass!" Jiraiya smacked Sasuke on the back good-naturedly, causing the latter to glare at the former, a suddenly thoughtful look struck Jiraiya and he revised his previous statement, "Or maybe it's a lack of —"

"Shut up," Sasuke pulled the blanket over his head in attempt to drown out the conversation; his face was a brilliant shade of red. He knew what went on between a kunoichi and a shinobi when they were in love—as Kakashi had put it—and he was no stranger to sex either! Well, he'd never actually _had_ sex, but he knew the basics of what went on, and as far as sex between two men… well, to be honest he had never really placed a lot of thought on it, and if Jiraiya's last comment was what he thought it was, sex between two men sounded painful.

Eventually, curiosity and lack of oxygen won out and Sasuke was forced to remove his blanket. He opened his mouth, not sure what to say; but the perverted sannin had disappeared and Sasuke's closet door was ajar. Apprehensively, he gripped his blanket tighter around him and threw open the door. Jiraiya was going through his wardrobe, a disgusted look on his face.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sasuke felt his eyebrow twitch.

"It's all _black!_" Jiraiya's face twisted downwards and he flung a shirt over his shoulder, "Come on boy, I know you live alone, but I would've thought at least someone would've taught you proper fashion sense!!" He brushed past Sasuke to sit in a chair, a hand over his eyes.

"…" Sasuke hovered uncertainly in between his violated wardrobe and the old man radiating despair. Unfashionable? The word had never been applied to him, and Sasuke wasn't sure whether the hermit knew who he was talking to. He was at the very peak of fashion, or at least he wasn't at the bottom of it... after all, he had his own fan club and that had to be something, right?

"Sasuke," Jiraiya said after a moment of silence, he still hadn't removed his hand from his eyelids, "I'm afraid before we even go into matters of being sexy, I'm going to have to cure you of your phobia of anything colorful."

Oh dear god no…

* * *

The thought of the kind of wardrobe that may be forced upon him gave Sasuke the shivers. Luckily, the classroom was only feet away and it distracted him with the thought of a new dread, a room of fourteen-year old wizards and witches.

"…Mr. Uchiha," silence greeted him as Sasuke entered the room; Moody had obviously just intro-ed his entrance. Harry took his seat, avoiding eye-contact with the Professor's magical eye. Sasuke held a deep loathing for Professor Moody that surpassed even his dislike of Snape. He couldn't particularly say why he hated his supposed 'superior', but he couldn't help it; it was a feeling deep in the pit of his stomach that wouldn't go away, no matter how hard he tried to make it. So he let it go, he figured he could ignore this unreasonable hate of his until the end of the year and then he wouldn't ever have to deal with Moody again, problem solved.

"…" Sasuke regarded the class silently; most avoided his gaze, but Harry, Ron and Hermione grinned broadly and Ron even gave him a thumbs-up. _Oh no, please don't let him be another Lee, _Sasuke prayed silently. The thought of the red-head in green spandex reminded him of another red-head named Gaara, and the thought of Gaara in green spandex brought to mind the thought of Rock Lee and Gaara together which brought the thought of many unmentionable and odd things which shall remain unmentioned.

"Glad to see you're getting along so well," Moody growled.

* * *

Aaa.. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm trying to indulge on the characters and make them seem more dynamic and relatable in comparison to earlier chapters. I want you guys to know why they are who they are and why they do what they do… you know what I mean? Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and maybe you can give me some positive critisicism and feedback!! By the way, the Madame Pomfry thing was totally random, along with the Cameo appearance, anyone catch that?

You're all wonderful, thanks!

1: I do hope that wasn't in bad taste...


	16. Chapter 16

**HEY YOU! ****YES, YOU WHO CLICKED ON THE LINK: I NEED YOU TO BE MY QUALITY CONTROL!!**

**Let me explain, I have a nasty habit of going lazy on my storylines, so if this one starts to suck some major ass (in a bad way DX) then I need YOU to tell me!! **

**And once again, at some point in time I'll be going back through and re-doing all the chapters to make them better... and less crap-tastic**

**Okay, now that we understand each other, let's continue:**

**Chapter 16**_**: Konoha Chronicles**_**: A Brief Interlude in which Jiraiya is featured.**

Jiraiya is absolutely brilliant.

No, really. He is.

His mind works in fantastic ways that neither you nor I could ever possibly imagine.

Tsunade begs to differ, but Jiraiya knows that deep down inside she knows how amazing he truly is, and he accepts that her jealousy gets the better of her when he visits.

But this time will be different, because this time he's got a viable reason to be in town other than the normal excuse of 'doing research'. Yeah, that's right.

This time, he's going…. _clothes shopping._

-

Dew clung to his hair as Jiraiya trudged the beaten path through the forest of Konoha. A thick film of mist obscured what should have been a breath-taking view of the Hokage monument. Over all, the toad hermit could accurately describe the scenery as…. Oh, who am I kidding?

Jiraiya felt sticky and gross. It was mornings like this that made him seriously consider cutting his magnificent, long, silken hair. He never did it, after all, he'd had this particular hairstyle all of his life, but it was the fact that he thought about it that counted.

Mornings in the Fire Country were always so calm, so quiet…….

(DAMNIT! -smacks head against imaginary wall- WRITE SOMETHING WRITE SOMETHING!!!! Sorry, dear readers, it was not my intention to keep you in such a dreadful state of suspense, but I'm afraid that I'm experiencing what is commonly known as 'writer's block', or in more technical terms: Procrastinative-puttingitoffnousmous Syndrome. )

………..so dreadfully UN-inspirational!!

Jiraiya thrived off of conflict; he wallowed in it, fed from its nourishing and creative juices! Sure, he _could_ write about a murky, mist-filled morning that smelled distinctly of fish, in fact it_ would_ make a great murder-mystery/thriller; but who? WHO in their right mind would want to read a porn book with the title **A Calm Misty Morning with Bob and Janet** when they could read **Justice Ninja and Promiscuous Betty Caught in a Tangle of Tainted/Forbidden/Unwanted/Naughty Love XXX!!!**

Jiraiya wouldn't.

His newest book was due two weeks from now and the Head Ninja Editor-in-Chief (Head NENC, for short) would not look kindly upon _another_ missed deadline. To make matters worse, his newest book was currently non-existent.

The clacking sound of his sandals on the stone pavement made it hard to concentrate on the storyline that had been evading him since he had published his last book. Desperately he stuffed both fingers into his ears and tried to feel as inspirational as possible. So deep in thought was he that he failed to notice the cart of an oncoming fruit vendor. Colliding head-first with a guava melon made him realize that not only had he arrived in Konoha, but he had also demolished 3.5 watermelons, 4 kiwi fruits and a banana (not to mention the guava). It was a personal record.

It was also enough of a reason to be chased down the streets by a raging fruit vender with a rolling pin (don't even ask why there was a rolling pin, there just was.)

Jiraiya's training with the Sandaime Hokage was not to be taken in vain. After all, he was not one of the legendary Sannin for nothing! He had dodged into an empty alley-way and leapt towards the roof, but the vender had proved rather persistent and it had taken a good ten minutes after that to shake him.

And this was how it came to be that Jiraiya found himself face to face with a flower-laden Iruka-sensei.

"Wild flowers, Umino? I never took you for the effeminate type."

"When did you get back in town, Jiraiya-sama?" Iruka asked, and Jiraiya wasn't sure whether he had heard his previous comment or not.

"You know, I'm not quite sure," the Sannin could hear cursing and the roll of a cart not too far off, "where are you headed to, Umino-kun?" He directed Iruka in the opposite direction.

"The hospital, Hatake-san was admitted two days ago and since he likes wild flowers (at least that's what I'm told) I thought I would bring him some. You know, as a get-well present." Iruka's excuse would've been credible if he hadn't said it so fast. The horizontal scar that ran across the chunnin's nose was turning an interesting shade of maroon.

Kakashi was hospitalized? Well that was an interesting tidbit of information, but he would have to save it for later because in the meantime Jiraiya could almost feel the bloodlust radiating off of the oncoming fruit vendor, and decided it was time to make a quick exit.

"Those Hatake-types are a rather fidgety lot, especially Kakashi," Jiraiya leaned in close, as if confiding something secretive with a close friend, "I just happen to know a short-cut to the hospital, if you would like me to show it to you." Iruka perked up at the statement and Jiraiya took his reaction as a yes.

-

The room in which Kakashi had been placed was on the sixth floor, and surprisingly not white but a pale shade of blue, dotted with clouds that seemed to skim across the very walls themselves. It was well-lit and smelled abnormally sterile. The beeping of the heart monitor and faint dripping sounds of the IV's seemed to echo off of the tiled floor and bare walls. Everything in the room seemed reserved and untouchable, even the occupant.

Jiraiya had been the first to encounter Kakashi after the untimely fate of his late student and had seen the effect it had had on Kakashi's mental stability. It was the worst state the toad hermit had ever seen his student's pupil in, and he had hoped to never see it bested in his lifetime. Looking down upon Kakashi now, Jiraiya could honestly say that this came close.

A tube protruded from the unconscious ninja's parted lips, forcing air into lungs that refused to work. Bandages were applied liberally all over the top half of his torso; everything else was covered by a pale, pink blanket. A large vase was positioned next to the windowsill, where a variety of flowers drooped from the heat of the sun.

Iruka placed his wildflowers among the wilting ones and moved the vase away from the sunlight. Seeing where Jiraiya focused his attention, Iruka said in way of explanation, "When Gai found him he was a complete mess, couldn't even form a coherent sentence. Sakura told me that his body was trying to reject his Sharingan eye and that they had to put him into a coma before he could do any more damage to himself." With a shrug Iruka gazed out the window, surveying the courtyard below.

"You seem awfully calm for someone who may lose a loved one," Jiraiya commented. It was not a well-known fact that Kakashi and Iruka were involved romantically throughout the village, but it wasn't completely unheard of. The relationship between the two seemed rather complicated in Jiraiya's eyes—of course, the longest lasting relationship he had ever had only spanned the course of a day, and it would neither further the plotline nor make sense to go into the matter any further.

Iruka's face was impassive, "Kakashi and I discussed what we would do if something happened to one of us, you know. ANBU are not expected to have a long lifespan, and old age is not a common fatality among ninja."

Jiraiya had to admit that he was impressed, though in retrospect he really should have known better, this _was _Kakashi he was talking about. The boy always overanalyzed and predicted for everything, it shouldn't have come as a shock that he would've planned for this, too.

"And what are you planning to do, Umino-kun?"

This was obviously a bad question to ask.

Iruka's head swiveled around on his neck to glare at Jiraiya. When he spoke his voice was calm, but it made the hairs on Jiraiya's neck stand straight up, "If you don't mind my saying so, Jiraiya-_sama_, it's really none of your business."

Jiraiya had left shortly afterwards, making the excuse that he was here on some business and had to leave soon. What he didn't know was that upon leaving the hospital he would bump into the disgruntled fruit vendor selling his wares on Market Street.

-

To say that Kisame was irked would be a grand understatement. Three months, Itachi had told the Konoha ANBU, the Kyuubi container had three months before they (Itachi and Kisame) would pursue him. Then, about a week later, Itachi just up and leaves. No note, no monotoned sound of indifference, no indication that he was even going to leave. For crying out loud! Kisame used to be part of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, a bloodthirsty band of killers, but even they had at least told each other when they were leaving!

A glint in the corner of the shark-man's eye redeemed the Uchiha. It was a kunai embedded in the side of a sapling, a note tied near the blade read: _Gone ahead, catch me up._ The grin tugging at Kisame's mouth died. The note affirmed the fact that Itachi had gone after Uzumaki alone, but it still said nothing of where Itachi was actually headed.

-

………………… _ACK. _

_Sorry this wasn't very long, but I felt like I needed a little bit of closure on the whole Kakashi thing and I just wanted to get that done with. I swear, I will put some NaruSasu action in the next chapter!! _

_**REVIEWS really help to speed up the writing process!!**__** -hint hint nudge nudge wink wink say no more**_


	17. Chapter 17

In brief:

_Naruto is avoids talking to Sasuke by going into forest alone and gets captured by centaurs who are being used by Itachi (who, by the way, has a very low level of patience as of late). Itachi kills one of the centaurs and cuts up Naruto's face (very original idea on my part, even if it is a tad morbid) and poisons him (very lame. Sorry guys.) Jiraiya visits Konoha with a severe case of writer's block and runs into Iruka, who is NOT acting uke-ish because I loathe when he is made to do that, but this really has nothing to do with what happens in this chapter so just ignore this sentence. Sasuke is summoned back to Moody's class after rushing (read: walking) to Naruto's side and this is where we find him now. As a quick note, it's actually HanAtaro, not HanOtaro, thanks (you know who you are) :D_

_-_

In Sasuke's personal opinion, this was all getting to be a little odd. Perhaps they did things differently at Hogwarts, but back in Konoha students just didn't get up and form sharing circles immediately after the teacher left the room. Then again, as Sasuke was rapidly learning, students at Hogwarts were vastly different than Academy students.

Moody had lectured the class for maybe a little over five minutes before he had reached for the canteen inside his wizarding robes, Sasuke had detected a rather pungent, revolting smell coming from it but had not said anything. The stumpy little man lifted the opening to his lips and paused before turning the metal container upside down and shaking it. Nothing but a drop of liquid that didn't even look remotely drinkable came out. Sasuke was not familiar with the types of alcohol that the wizarding community consumed, and looking at whatever it was that had just come dripping out of Professor Moody's canteen, he didn't want to become familiar with it.

"You think you can handle them on your own for awhile, Suzy?" he asked, already stumping towards the door, "good man, I knew I could count on you," he exited the classroom without even waiting for a reply.

"Sasuke," Sasuke hissed, repressing a wave of disgust, "it's _SASUKE._"

"Hey! Look what I nicked from the potions room!" A Ravenclaw boy directed the attention on him as soon as the door clicked shut by holding a small, clear vial of liquid above his head and waving it slightly, "It's a watered-down veritiserum!" All the Ravenclaw girls squealed and that was when Sasuke knew that he had lost all control of the classroom.

Out of all of the jobs Tsunade could've given him, she just had to make him a teacher. A teacher of fourteen-year-olds that had all the sense of maturity of a penguin on crack, no less! Any desire to become a teacher had been prematurely squashed when he had been feeling uncharacteristically charitable and offered to help Iruka watch over one of his classes on a field trip/picnic to the Hokage monument. He hadn't understood the looks of pity that some of the jounin and chunin in the mission room were giving him then, but he finally came to an understanding when he arrived early the next morning in front of the academy.

Iruka had greeted him with a hardy slap on the back and a cup of strong tea, he had heard from Kakashi of Sasuke's unusual obsession by then. At first Sasuke had refused it, but a serious look from Iruka and the other chaperones around him had made the Uchiha accept the mug and thank Iruka for his thoughtfulness. Although he had to admit that he hadn't been too terribly worried. As a newly promoted jounin he was sure that he could handle anything an academy student could throw at him. On one level, he was right, but in no way could he have prepared for the mass of sticky, rambunctious, loud children armed with all sorts of pranks and _exploding tags._ The visit to the monument itself and lecture that followed it were fairly enjoyable, but the chaos that was lunch left Sasuke speechless and wondering how Iruka had managed to keep all of his body parts intact over the years— Sasuke's class had been bad, and Konohamaru's had been nothing to scoff at either, but this year's group was the pure embodiment of evil!

On several occasions Sasuke had had to duck to avoid flying sandwiches and sporks. Once, a box of animal crackers had sailed over his head to land about two feet away from him. At the time Sasuke had been enjoying a nice glass of iced tea (courtesy of Iruka) and found the breath knocked out of him as said teacher tackled him to the ground before the animal cracker box exploded, leaving scorch marks almost two feet in diameter. Sasuke decided that he must've looked very silly lying there on the ground, drenched in iced tea, with his lips slightly parted, trying to find the words to ask what the _hell_ just happened. Iruka had just laughed and patted him on the shoulder before helping him into a sitting position and removing the empty glass from Sasuke's hand and asking him if he would like a refill. Sasuke had only nodded dumbly, still looking at the blackened patch of earth where the animal cracker box had just been. Meanwhile, the academy students had seen Iruka's flying tackle technique and decided it would be fun to try it out, too…all at once…on the new jounin that had so unwittingly offered his assistance to an old teacher and friend. As Sasuke struggled his way out of the mass of wriggling bodies that were shrieking with laughter, he decided that he would never, never _ever_ be a teacher.

So it was with caution that Sasuke accepted the vial of clear liquid from a girl with curly blonde hair, it didn't look like poison and a number of students had already taken a small sip of it and had not dropped dead yet, but still.

"You want to tell me what this is, exactly?" Sasuke tried to sound as authoritative as he could, and from the looks on some of the students' faces, it had worked.

"It's not anything bad, Professor, it makes you tell the truth," Hermione looked nervously over at the Ravenclaw boy, who was making outraged faces and mouthing the words, 'I thought you said he was cool'. Inwardly Sasuke frowned, he _was_ cool. It had just been an innocent question that happened to indulge the paranoid side of him that would never again stand within two feet of an animal cracker box.

"We were just going to play a game, Professor," the blonde girl next to Sasuke spoke up on Hermione's part, "we've done it before and nothing bad happened." Sasuke was beginning to feel like an old man in this school. Being called 'professor' made him feel five years older than he really was. No wonder Sarutobi had been so wrinkly, the man's friggin' nick-name was 'the professor'.

"What game, pray tell?" Sasuke enquired.

"Truth or dare," Hermione smiled her thanks to the blonde, "but it's mostly just truth or truth. If we all drink this what's the point of daring someone to do anything?"

Sasuke swirled the vial once, watching the liquid press to the walls of the glass and then passed it to a boy from Gryphindor with freckles to his right, "How long does it last?"

"Around half an hour, since it's watered-down," the boy from Ravenclaw substituted for Hermione, "so can we play, professor?" Sasuke hesitated for a moment, but the looks that the rest of the class were giving him finally made him cave.

"Fine," a small cheer erupted, along with a few titters of 'thanks, Professor!' "But only because I don't think Professor Moody is going to be coming back, and stop calling me Professor, you're making me feel old."

"What should we call you then?" Ron asked before putting two drops of the veritiserum on his tongue.

"When there isn't another Professor around, Uchiha-san will be just fine." A few questioning sounds were made at the odd sounding name and Sasuke was reminded that he was no longer in Konoha and needed to explain everything to these children, "Uchiha is my last name, 'san' is a prefix used to address someone older than you and can also be a sign of respect. So Uchiha-san, got it memorized?(1)" Sasuke heard a variety of answers, but was pleased to hear a majority of yes's.

"Are you going to play, Uchiha-san?" Hermione asked. Sasuke shrugged, but took the bottle of veritiserum when it made its way back around to him and slipped it into a pocket in his robe.

"Oi, what are you doing?" the Ravenclaw boy who had originally stolen it squawked.

"I believe this is property of Hogwarts, and it would be irresponsible of me to let you keep it," Sasuke told him, "if you're worried that I'll report you, don't be." It was an odd phenomenon; Sasuke had never spoken so much in such a civil manner towards anyone else before. He was beginning to wonder whether the magic in the air was affecting his personality as well.

-((1: I had an Axel moment happen, I'm sorry, I couldn't help it))

The 'sharing circle' had turned out to be a disaster in the making. Moody had returned fifteen minutes later and demanded to know what they were doing and, of course, under the veritiserum the students had told him exactly what and more. The professor had then taken a long swig of whatever was in his canteen, gave Sasuke a look that he could not decipher the meaning of, and turned to leave, "Go on then, I'm glad to see you're bonding with the students, Suzy," Sasuke couldn't tell whether the grizzled, old Auror wore a smile on his face or a frown. Either way, a cold stone of shame weighed in the bottom of his stomach.

It had to be a record: not even a week into the job he was actually assigned and he had already managed to put a black mark next to his name. Visions of his name being put up on the ANBU bulletin board of shame flashed through his head: Uchiha Sasuke—voted most likely to excel in the Academy and most-eligible-bachelor in his age group—managed to screw up the first mission he was ever sent on as an ANBU-in-training. Looking back, Sasuke admitted that maybe, just _maybe_ he had been overreacting a tiny bit, but it had been worth it in the end.

Fourteen-year-olds are not generally known for their good sense of rationality, reasoning, and observation skills, but they at least had the humility to be silent for at least five minutes after Moody left before the game was again picked up with vigor. Sasuke kept his face schooled to the same, aloof expression he normally wore in the company of Naruto or anyone from Konoha. The surliness did not go unnoticed by the students, but sensing that this was not a good time to mention it only a handful of glances and shrugs were thrown at each other before continuing on as if nothing had happened. Coincidentally, fourteen-year-olds are not given nearly as much credit as they deserve.

When the lunch bell finally chimed its way through the school the students had filed out of the classroom, thanking Sasuke for a great lesson. Sasuke had nodded his head and, not unkindly, waved them onto their next period. Harry, Ron and Hermione had been among the last to exit, but waited until the sulking, Ravenclaw boy had left before approaching Sasuke. From the look on their faces, Sasuke guessed that Harry had mentioned to them about Naruto's currently unconscious state in the infirmary.

"Uchiha-san?" Hermione began shyly, stuttering slightly on the prefix that she was not used to using, "Is Yuubi-san going to be okay?"

"Harry told us that he had a bunch of cuts and it looked like he was hurt really bad!" Ron blurted. His voice sounded far too excited to be truly concerned, and from what Sasuke had learned in the past few days, he had a right to be. Many students visited the hospital wing on a daily basis, but only a very few cases ever posed any sort of threat to a student's well-being.

"He's survived worse things," Sasuke's tone was dismissive and impartial, but his eyes told a different story—to Hermione it seemed that way at least.

"You three should head to lunch, dinner isn't until eight, right?" Hermione nodded and followed Ron and Harry into the corridor, smiling at the man before averting her eyes and speeding up.

"He's not telling us everything, I can tell." Harry said once they were out of earshot.

"Yeah, but that's how it is, isn't it? Grown-ups always have secrets and they don't think we're developed enough, or smart enough or whatever to understand. I mean, I think we do a pretty good job of keeping secrets. Take Sirius—sorry, _Snuffles_, for example!" Ron fumed.

"We're only fourth-years, Ron." Hermione rolled her eyes, "Uchiha-san is probably in his twenties. Don't you think it would be a little awkward for him to confide his deepest and darkest secrets to us?" She tried to reason with the boys.

"Just call him Sasuke, 'Mione," Ron whined, "between him and Nuubito, or Yuubi-san, or whatever—it's giving me a headache!"

"Fine, we'll just call them Sasuke and Yuubi-san," Harry said authoritatively, "that way even if we're overheard no one will know who we're talking about."

"Yeah, it's settled then. Hey, does anyone else smell soup?" Ron sniffed the air excitedly and took off towards the Great Hall with Harry fast on his heels. Hermione sighed and turned towards the library to return a book she had borrowed the other day for potions. Once again, her argument had been bulldozed by Ron's attention span and Harry's live-in-the-now mentality.

Uchiha-san was hiding something, she knew that as well as Harry and Ron did, but unlike them she didn't think it was something deep and dark and amazingly dangerous. They had already witnessed that Naruto was some sort of secret agent, double 'o' seven, and if the events at the Qwidditch World Cup meant anything, Uchiha-san was too. Hermione had a feeling that trying to delve any deeper into that one aspect of Uchiha-san's life would only result in embarrassing memories that shouldn't have been dug up. It would be the same for Naruto, too. Naruto, Hermione just liked being able to use his name, if only in her head. Around Harry and Ron she would use 'Yuubi-san' to lessen confusion, but he would always be Naruto in her mind. Uchiha-san—_Sasuke _was a different matter, she had to get used to referring to him in a normal way if she wanted to get anywhere with Harry and Ron. Between Naruto and Sasuke, Hermione found it harder to approach Naruto. He was just so easy-going and absolutely drop-dead gorgeous she couldn't help but get tongue–tied around him. Sasuke was just as gorgeous but his personality canceled it out. It was that and the fact that he knew something that Hermione didn't that made her want to talk with him. Now was not the time for such thoughts, though. Professor McGonagall had told them that it was necessary for everyone to be to lunch on time for a very important announcement. With hurried thanks, Hermione handed Madam Pince, the librarian, the book and made for the Great Hall.

-

So it was that after an odd series of events that took place shortly after Harry, Hermione and Ron left the room that Sasuke found himself pushed up against the wall by a very handsome, tall, and familiar ANBU captain with blonde hair. Normally said events would be explained in great and excruciating detail, but at the moment all Sasuke's brain can remember is that it had something to do with a rather nasty paper cut and not being able to make his wand work. There was a dull throbbing in between the top of his head and his hairline, but that didn't seem too terribly important when Naruto suddenly pressed his body against Sasuke's, rubbing against a rather sensitive area. The throbbing in his head got worse when Naruto's warm mouth found the jugular vein on the side of his neck and began to suck at it. The pain in Sasuke's head was forgotten as Naruto sucked harder on the spot and rocked forwards. Sasuke was dimly aware of gasping before his eyelids dropped downwards and he leaned back onto the wall, stretching his neck as to invite Naruto to explore more than just one spot.

Two hands grasped his head gently, making him open his eyes to find four pairs of very concerned eyes looking down upon him. Sasuke lurched back on the bed, nearly falling off before he realized he was in the infirmary and it was not Naruto who was looking back at him but two strangers, Madame Pomfry, and Dumbledore. One of the strangers was a very large-boned woman in pink who stood about two feet higher than everyone else. The other was a crafty-looking man in furs with a pointed goatee and beady-black eyes that never stayed in one place for too long. Across the room he could see a shock of blonde hair before the large woman obstructed his view.

Sasuke pulled the blankets up a little further and the heat rose in his face, it may have been just a dream but his body still wanted to remember what it felt like to be pressed against the wall underneath a man who was a walking wet dream in definition. He must have been glaring out of reflex because after a time Professor Dumbledore finally spoke to the two strangers in that tone only he possessed, the tone that could even soothe an angry crowd of fangirls deprived of real yaoi action.

"Professor Uchiha may be a little out of sorts this evening, perhaps it would be better if you meet him tomorrow, when you've all had a good night's sleep?" Madame Pomfry opened the door for the large woman and small man as they exited. His smile never leaving his face, Dumbledore pulled a wand out of his sleeve and waved it once. A comfortable-looking, plush chair appeared next to Sasuke's bed and Dumbledore sat, replacing his wand and lacing his long, frail fingers before him.

"From the look on your face, I would say that you are very confused or very embarrassed," the headmaster addressed him, Madame Pomfry was currently nowhere in sight. "Perhaps I could shine some light upon the matter," Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat and took a drink from a coffee cup that seemed to magically appear out of nowhere.

Before he could start, Sasuke finally found his voice, "What time is it? How long have I been here? Where are my clothes?" He could only thank some higher deity that his body was beginning to cool down, the shirt with the slit down the back and the thin sheets did not offer much protection against prying eyes.

"All will be answered in time," Albus closed his eyes thoughtfully, "where to begin, where to begin? Ah, yes. You see, Madame Pomfry's assistant, Hanataro, found you passed out in the defense against the Dark Arts Room with a lump on your head and something that looked like a gigantic sword wrapped in bandages nearby. He had gone to fetch Madame Pomfry, but when they came back you weren't there, they scoured the halls for you and found both you and Mr. Uzumaki not far from the hospital wing," One gray eyebrow arched up in amusement and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled knowingly. Sasuke's eyes widened and an involuntary 'eep' was smothered. If he could've, Sasuke would've kicked himself for reacting so openly, but Dumbledore persisted as if he had not noticed.

"He was given a strong kind of pain medicine that would've been appropriate for a normal person with his injuries, but we failed to compensate for how well-trained you Konoha ninja are, and the drug went beyond getting rid of the pain and induced a sort of buzz in him, or high would be a better term I suppose," Dumbledore smiled and Sasuke's heart plummeted. So it hadn't been a dream, but Naruto hadn't even been in his right mind when he had pushed Sasuke up against the wall.

It had been a big step for Sasuke to admit that he had a crush on Naruto, Yuubi-san back then, and really he hadn't expected it to follow through to anything. He had been half-hoping that it was the kind of crush that would disappear if left alone for long enough, but now it had been taken to a whole new level. He'd been given a taste of the forbidden fruit and there was no going back now.

"You were asleep for most of the afternoon and missed the arrival of our new guests—you'll meet them tomorrow if all goes as planned and I think you'll be able to attend classes tomorrow," Dumbledore made to stand, "the sword should still be in the DADA room, you should meet it. It's got an interesting personality." A series of cracks were heard as the headmaster straightened up and whisked away the chair with a flick of his wand. Turning once again to Sasuke, Albus Dumbledore scratched the side of his neck, "It is my belief that Mr. Uzumaki is a very gentle person by nature, but contrary to common belief, a dog's bite is can be worse than its bark. If I were you I would wear a high collar tomorrow." With that said he departed, leaving Sasuke to ponder over what he had said.

-

_Hey, I got this chapter out faster than the last one!(__**reviews really DO work!)**__ Ya happy? I am… kind of, this chapter needs some revision in a BIG way. Do tell me if you see any typo's or inconsistencies XD _

_**R&R dudes**_

::… _Deleted Scene (because I just wanted to XD)_…::

"Sasuke," Sasuke hissed, "it's _SASUKE._ Suzy is just so unmanly."

"Does he call you Suzy often?" Ron inquired.

"I do _not_ have a wand with the core of a unicorn hair and it did not shoot out rainbows when I went to Olivander's because rainbows and unicorns are sissy and girly and Uchiha's are _**not**_sissy and girly!!!!" Sasuke gripped the edges of the desk defensively.


	18. Chapter 18

4 rizzle:

_Hmm… so here's how it is, yo –strikes a gangster pose- so let's rap: _

_Sasuke's class wanted to play truth or daaaare,_

_And Sasuke said "okay" cause he really didn't caaarre._

_Hermione has suspicions _

_And Kisame'll have conniptions _

_When he finds his sword is missin'._

_Naruto got high and pinned Sasuke to the wall,_

_Sasuke didn't mind cause he… um… really liked it all?_

………… _damn……… I shouldn't be rapper…sorry you had to read that … anyways: two 'mysterious' strangers have made their appearance and were sent away by Dumbledore, who had a brief conversation which ended like this: _

_Turning once again to Sasuke, Albus Dumbledore scratched the side of his neck, "It is my belief that Mr. Uzumaki is a very gentle person by nature, but contrary to common belief, a dog's bite is can be worse than its bark. If I were you I would wear a high collar tomorrow." With that said he departed, leaving Sasuke to rummage in the bedside table's drawers for a mirror to look at his neck._

-

His companion, Madame Pomfry had told Sasuke early the next morning, had made a stunning recovery overnight and had checked out maybe ten minutes ago.

"He told me to leave you this," she handed him a piece of paper with messily scrawled kanji on the front that read: _Sasuke _(with a big, over-sized heart next to it.) The whole Olivander's incident replayed itself in his mind's eye, and it took an extremely high level of self-constraint on Sasuke's part not to incinerate the letter on instinct. Instead, he thanked Madame Pomfry and asked where the showers were located.

Two stories up, to the left, knock twice on the third flagstone to the right of Borris the Bewildered. Sasuke jumped back instinctively as the wall cascaded down in a magical waterfall, he scowled and pulled the robe Madame Pomfry had given him tighter around himself before cautiously stepping through the doorway.

_Where are my clothes?_ He had asked Madame Pomfry after she had told him where the bathrooms were. _I had a house-elf take them to be washed, _the nurse had looked scandalized when Sasuke stood, _surely you can wait, I'm positive the Headmaster didn't mean to introduce you at this time in the morning! _Sasuke had simply replied that he thought it was better to be early rather than late.

Even in a thin nightgown, a true Uchiha could glare something fierce, and so Madame Pomfry had lent him an orange robe with blue stars and moons on it. He had balked at first, but as Madame Pomfry put it: "If you feel so inclined to show off your _assets_, you don't have to wear it." So he had shoved down his very manly, Uchiha pride, and very meekly accepted the eyesore that Naruto would have undoubtedly fawned over.

Though really, the small voice in the back of Sasuke's mind said deviously, if you're wearing the robe—the voice was immediately smothered.

Sasuke preoccupied himself with studying the dimly lit room.

It was very elegant; high, arched ceilings that displayed the sky, much like the Grand Hall—this room was much smaller in comparison though. Various ledges covered in soft moss-like plants grew out of the walls; ivy looped and twisted its way up into the rafters, creating a safe, enclosed feeling to the atmosphere. The bath itself reminded Sasuke of a hot spring.

A little ways in, the moss stopped and the floor dipped sharply where water filled a magnificently decorated pool. Flattened jewels curved into swirls and formed murals of mermaids and dragons and other mythical beings the like of which Sasuke had never seen. As if sensing his approach, the water began to steam, filling the room in a thick, muggy fog. Sasuke skirted the edge of the spring and found a smaller room adjacent to the larger room. The tiled floor dipped obscurely towards the center of the room, and a number of faucets lined the mossy walls.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Sasuke shed his robe and undid the strings of the hospital gown. Leaving the garments on a ledge, he stepped under one of the faucets and turned the knob, as the water came hissing out of the pipe Sasuke faced himself towards the doorway. He didn't like public washrooms for this very reason. He didn't like knowing that someone could just walk in and see him in all his naked glory without even doing anything to earn it. Sasuke didn't like to sound narcissistic, but it was true that he had a great body; he had worked hard to come by it.

Okay, so it was that and he just didn't like being felt up by someone's eyes.

(a/n: sorry to cut in like this, but I can't help it this time. What it comes down to is that I don't think I can get away with a 'SOLO Sasuke scene' in a T-rated fic, if you catch my drift, so I created another story under the M-rated section for the A&T. See the end of the chapter for details please. Sorry for the interruption.)

The tile beneath Sasuke was suddenly very cold. Stiffly, he rose, his joints protested the movement. It was then, with one hand steadying himself on the wall, that Sasuke noticed a little alcove of soap stashed within the moss. A little unsteadily, Sasuke began to scrub his body with the soap that smelled like spices, his mind was still reeling from when he had (at this point Sasuke hesitated, there was really no other way of saying it, though, oh damn it all) masturbated. There he said it, it's was out in the open now.

As Sasuke turned off the stream of water he still couldn't shake the feeling of dirtiness that seemed to cling to his skin. He shivered, not so much out of cold than out of nerves. Now all he felt was an emptiness that met up with the longing in his stomach and mixed together to form a potent mix that left him feeling downright miserable. The spring was still steaming up the room, looking enticingly warm. Swayed, Sasuke lowered himself into the waters, humming as his quivering body relaxed in the heat.

The fog made it hard to see two feet in front of him, but the grinding splash of the door opening made it very clear that someone was coming in. Slightly panicking, Sasuke froze, trying to make as little sound as possible.

"By George, George, you were right!" the exuberant voices of Mrs. Weasley's twin boys cut through the fog like foghorns.

"Maybe not, can't see a bloody thing," Sasuke could hear the boys shuffling along the mossy floor, after a moment one of the boys stopped while the other ventured forwards, "hey Fred, you'll never believe what I just found, it's Bill's old bathrobe! You know, the ugly old orange one?"

There was a splash not too far away from Sasuke, he could feel the ripples lapping up against his bare skin and a knot of dread formed in his belly. "Oi, George, you'll never guess what I found! The pool!" he chuckled at his own joke.

"Where are you?"

"I dunno, can't see a blasted thing with this fog. Something smells bloody nice though, kinda reminds me of cinnamon." Sasuke kept silent and hoped to god that they would leave soon.

"Cinnamon you say? Brilliant. I can get rid of the fog if you'd like."

"Right on, then fire away, old chap," the fog began to swirl and was suddenly sucked into the end of George's wand. George was holding the robe Madame Pomfry had given to Sasuke, and Fred was in the process of removing his soaked clothing. There was a silence as Sasuke and the twins regarded each other before Sasuke cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Can I have my robe, please?" He inquired, trying to cover himself up as much as possible.

A look was exchanged between the two brothers before George tugged off his shirt and kicked off his sandals and vaulted into the spring before surfacing next to Sasuke and throwing a carefree arm around his shoulders. Fred had already done likewise and had sidled up to the Uchiha, who was feeling that his personal space was being violated.

"So how have you been, Sasuke? Good?" Fred questioned.

"Great. But you know you can tell us if anything is going on between you and Yuubi-san, right? If he's not treating you well, just let us know." George pulled Sasuke closer, in a brotherly fashion. Sasuke didn't know that some parts of his body could turn that red.

The next thing George knew, he was holding Bill's ratty old bathrobe and Sasuke was nowhere in sight. What he didn't know was that he was the victim of a substitution jutsu. Sasuke was halfway to his room, streaking down the empty hallway, very thankful that no student would be awake at this time in the morning. Castles, he shivered, were very drafty.

Sasuke skidded to a halt as he heard footsteps from around the corner, water dripped off his hair as he dodged behind the statue of a man and woman dancing. Adrenaline made his heart speed up as the person rounded the corner and passed by the statue, as soon as he couldn't hear the footsteps anymore, Sasuke peered around the statue and tiptoed around the corner, where he came face to face with Jiraiya. Sasuke squeaked, it was turning out to be a very undignified night for him, and tried to cover himself.

Jiraiya's bushy eyebrows disappeared into his hairline and his eyes traveled downwards, Sasuke glared, "What the hell do you want, Jiraiya?" he hissed, not looking half as menacing as he sounded.

"I never knew you were into streaking, Sasuke," Jiraiya took off his gigantic red vest and offered it to him, "it's kinky, but I wouldn't go right after a shower, you'll catch a cold." Sasuke glowered, but accepted the garment.

No words had been exchanged on the trip back to Sasuke's room. His hands had began to shake while fumbling with the codes on his door, and Jiraiya had shoved him out of the way and opened it himself. Once inside, Sasuke found himself divested of Jiraiya's vest, and in the same breath wrapped tightly in a thick, woolen blanket. A hat was pushed over his head, and Sasuke looked up in confusion at Jiraiya who shrugged.

"Just a precaution," he said, "Tsunade says it's easier to catch a cold when you're emotionally drained."

Sasuke bristled, a retort was on his lips when Jiraiya pushed him backwards onto the bed, "Go to sleep, you brat."

-

aaaah! -blushes madly- that was the first M-rated thing I've ever written XD . Did you like? I hope soo.

Oh, and the M-rated version of the story is called: The A&T: The Uncut Chapters. Or you can just go to my profile to look under the stories for it.

**I've noticed a lot of alerts and favs, if you're going to favorite this, can you tell me why at least? Even a simple: 'I like your story.' Is a real pick-me-up when I get online. Thanks a bunch you guys, I really appreciate it.**


	19. Chapter 19

Chineseartist: -flyingglomptackleofdooom-

Shight.. Writer's block, artist block….. this chapter has the potential to turn out atrociously… so.. sorry if it does

(EDIT: WARNING, VERY CHOPPY.. I'm so very, very sorry. This will be re-written when I have time D: D: D: D: D: D: )

Recap:

_It was all about Sasuke last chapter, including a rather steamy scene in the public bath involving a dirty imagination and a little too much free time( I would suggest that you read the M-rated version of the story if you haven't already, ). Unfortunately, Sasuke's soak was disturbed by the Weasley twins who, at that time, had been bitten by the need to explore. All of this ended up in Sasuke's streaking down the halls and being picked up by Jiraiya, who is really an old poof at heart (even though he'll never admit it.) _

-

"I say, that was uncalled for," Fred lifted an eyebrow at George.

"What?" The boy flicked a bit of water into Fred's eye, "I got him out of the room, didn't I?"

"True, true," Fred shoved George under the water in retribution, "now why was it that we came here in the first place?" His twin spluttered up out of the water and gave him a dirty look.

"Not quite sure," George crawled out of the pool and shook his head like a dog, sending little flecks of water everywhere.

It had really all began with a comment from Jordan, "I wonder where the teachers take showers." All it took was that one innocent statement for the wheels and gears to begin turning in the minds of Fred and George. They had spent hours toiling over endless piles of scrolls and dusty old books in the library, which is why the three page essay due in potions later that week was handed in with the scrawled letters "I. O. U." on the front. Professor Snape hadn't been amused.

For the next two weeks the Weasley twins had spent their free time up to their knees in muck and Christopher Robin-knows-what else as they 'assisted' (read: forced labor) Hagrid in the cleaning of the gigantic pens behind his hut. The minute Hagrid released them from their last detention with him the twins had devoted an even harder effort into finding the teacher's bathing grounds. This time it only took them about two days, give or take a few hours, to find its location.

At first Fred and George had only wished to look around the place, but now it was personal, vengeance would be theirs. Even if it meant turning the entire staff an astonishing shade of pink, Snape would get his just deserts.

"Ah, that's why," George watched Fred exit the pool, "do you have it?"

"Right here," a small jar of something appeared in Fred's hand. A smile appeared on George's face.

"You know," Fred said, uncorking the bottle of dye, "I almost feel bad for Sasuke, I'm not sure pink will suit him very well."

-

A tidal wave of optimism seemed to have hit the student body over the night, it was Friday and the weekend promised a trip to Hogsmead. Sasuke had never heard of the place and was bombarded by the exclamations of disbelief from the fourth-year DADA class of Gryphindors.

The next hour was Sasuke's lunch period. He and Professor Moody made their way down the mostly deserted hall-way, the odd clunk of Mad-eye's wooden leg made Sasuke wonder how he had lost it in the first place.

Silence grew between them.

Having mastered the art of the silent-treatment by the tender age of ten, Sasuke was perfectly fine with the lack of conversation but Moody seemed agitated by it. The auror rummaged in the inside pocket of his jacket and removed a silver flask. Sickeningly thick sloshing noises could be heard as the Professor unscrewed the lid and took a swig. Sasuke grimaced when he was sure that the magical eye was looking the other way, almost missing the glance Moody shot at him with his real eye.

"Do you think I'm crazy?" he gave Sasuke a lopsided grin, "None of the other Professors carry around one of these." He indicated the flask with a jiggle of his scarred hand.

Sasuke shook his head, "No." In truth, Moody was downright normal compared to some of the jounin in Konoha—at least Moody didn't have violent mood swings.

"Good lad," Moody's voice was gravely and unpleasant to listen to when he laughed, suddenly the subject changed "Constant vigilance is what separates the men from the boys, Mr. Uchiha. Even while enjoying the company of a female companion you must always keep vigilant." Sasuke subconsciously tugged the high-collared shirt a little higher, forcing himself to keep his cool (a mean feat while wearing a turtleneck.)

"There's no need to be so embarrassed, boy, it's normal for a lad your age to have a healthy interest in the fairer sex," Professor Moody had mistaken his reaction and was blatantly ignoring the glare being shot his way.

Thankfully, their deep and meaningful conversation (SARCASM ALERT) was ended as a wave of chatter from the Great Hall washed over them. The students were being louder than normal; Sasuke would've chalked it up to it nearly being the weekend, but the absence of laughter made him suspicious. Many of the children had their hands over their mouths and were turning odd colors of blue and were turned deliberately away from the staff table. Self-consciously, Sasuke pulled the turtleneck up a little higher; hoping against all hope that the students could not see the purplish bruise that had formed in the shape of a mouth. Glancing up at the long teacher's table, he was relieved to find the source of the student's amusement.

The majority of the male professors had hair of a particularly eye-gouging pink fashion. Professor Dumbledore smiled serenely, brushing a few strand of magenta out of his eyes while Professor McGonagall coughed into her napkin to avoid Professor Snape's eye. Severus looked to be in higher spirits, if only because of the absence of his normally obsidian locks, the pink seemed to have mixed interestingly with the natural oiliness of his hair. The light of the great hall bounced off of the professor's head, giving the illusion of a multitude of sparkles surrounding the air around him.

Sasuke avoided eye-contact and sat himself in an empty seat next to the ground's keeper at the end of the table. Delicious scents from the table wafted up to greet him, cautiously he reached for a sandwich upon a golden platter, poking it once and with drawing his hand before picking it up.

It was perhaps the second day of eating in the great hall that Sasuke had reached unknowingly out for a croissant when the thing had latched its tiny, supposedly nonexistent fangs into his index finger. He had thrown the thing to the ground and proceeded to stab it with a fork until it had stopped moving. He had then set the fork down on the table, smoothed his hair, bowed slightly to Dumbledore after a murmured apology, and continued on with his meal as if nothing had happened. He made it a point to stay away from the croissants after that.

A large, calloused hand obstructed his vision for a moment and Sasuke looked over to find the beast of a gamekeeper grinning (or what he thought was grinning, it could be snarling) at him through his beard.

"Rubeus Hagrid's the name, Care of Magical Creature's tha game," he introduced himself.

Sasuke's hand was dwarfed by Hagrid's and his entire body shook as the bulky man pumped his arm up and down, "Sa-Sasuke U-Uchiha," He managed to reply.

"I see you've met Suzy, eh, Professor Hagrid?" Moody placed himself on Hagrid's other side and reached out to spear a piece of sausage with a rather cruel-looking dagger.

Sasuke's indignant 'hmph' was ignored by the pair and forgotten by himself as something in black and pink slinked towards the door in his peripheral vision. It was Naruto. The majority of the student body was still oblivious to Naruto's appearance and his attempts to make it out of the hall unnoticed.

Like hell was Sasuek going to let that happen.

He slipped out of his chair silently and stuck to the walls, moving quickly in an attempt to cut the ANBU off. Naruto's eyes flickered towards him; he was wearing a cloth face-mask that reminded Sasuke of Kakashi in place of his porcelain one. Without warning the man took off like a shot towards the door. Sasuke vaulted over the Ravenclaw's table, snatching up a jug of pumpkin juice that was to be hurled at Naruto's head moments later.

His throw was not as powerful as it had once been, weeks of no training will do that to you, but his aim was still dead-on. The pitcher smacked Naruto in the back of the head, upending its contents in the process. The ANBU stumbled and swore, and in that moment Sasuke took the chance to tackle him head-on. The momentum carried them into the hallway (thankfully one of the Professors had magicked the doors to the Great Hall open)

As the two came skidding to a halt Sasuke sat up to straddle Naruto's stomach and sneer down into his face, "You look like Sakura, gone wrong." Naruto's hair was the same shocking pink as Snape's, albeit a little less shiny.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at him, "You tackled me to tell me I looked like Sakura?" he asked dryly.

"I need to ta—oomph" Sasuke doubled over and rolled to the side as Naruto hit him in the stomach, knocking the air out of him.

"Later, Sasuke, " Gentle fingers under his chin guided him to look into teasing blue eyes, "got me some things I gotta take care of first."

-

D: ack… stupid, STUPID writer's block!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry it took me so long to get this up, and sorry again because it's so pitifully short……. I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer for the complete thing. I promise I will make the next chapter normal-sized, if not longer……… that's it, I'll write 15 pages in apology! -good-guy pose- yosh!

XD And to be completely honest, your reviews really helped to inspire me, so thanks again everyone.

_((p.s. I'm going to Germany on the 11__th__, so I would not expect anything for about three weeks or so D: )) sorry guys_


	20. Chapter 20

_FINE you stupid bastard of a chapter, you wanna go? Let's do this! -tackles chapter 20- _

"Lies!" Naruto snarled at himself, pacing the roof of the astronomy tower. "Lies, lies, and more lies. That's all that comes out of your fucking mouth!" He howled, gripping his pink locks and tugging furiously. He continued to berate himself, " "_I got me some things to do_" what the hell kind of sentence is that?? It's not even proper grammar!"

He felt horrible. An ache seemed to have settled in his bones since his encounter with Itachi. His mind screamed for some peace and quiet; for one, just _one_, dreamless night's sleep. Then there was Sasuke. He couldn't even close his eyes without seeing the Uchiha's lips, panting his name, kissing his neck, sucking his... "ARG, STOP!!" Naruto hollered.

Professor Sinestra, the astronomy teacher, was sitting in her study just below the roof that the aforementioned guard was pacing upon. Every syllable, every sentence, every noun, verb and adjective rang in her sensitive ears as the man yelled at himself for some reason that did not involve her. Finally Sinestra had had enough.

His yelling was interrupting the sensitive vibrations of the movement of the planets... also, he was giving her a headache.

Just as Naruto was beginning to wonder whether jumping off the astronomy tower wouldn't just be an easier solution to all this, Professor Sinestra flung open the door to the roof.

"Listen to me, young man," she howled over the wind, her hair blowing into her eyes and obscuring her vision, "if you don't quiet down up here I'll—I'll jinx you half-way to Peru!" She threatened.

"What??" Naruto strained to hear her over the wind.

"I SAID: IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP I'LL JINX YOU!"

"YOU'LL LOCK ME UP WITH A MINX??"

"NEVER MIND!!" Sinestra decided that she had had quite enough of this silliness, and retreated back to her classroom. And I believe that was when Fawks the pheonix chose to fly into the side of Naruto's head, bearing a letter from the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

--

The silence that greeted Sasuke as he walked back into the Great Hall was deafening. All eyes were turned on him. Some of them were fearful, other's awed.

The hair on Sasuke's neck was standing up. He itched to melt back into the shadows of the corridor, and away from the prying eyes of the students and teachers. It wasn't his nature to be noticed. (And that was why he became a ninja)

He betrayed nothing in his expression to suggest that he was on the verge of a panic attack, and cleared his throat.

"He, uh, the guard, he owed me money." He said.

A wave of laughter rang through the student populace. Dumbledore's eyes crinkled good-naturedly behind his half-moon specticals and he raised a hand for silence, "Quite understandable, Mr. Uchiha. But as this is a community of learning, I would ask that you keep those kind of antics off of school grounds." His voice was dangerously pleasant.

Professor McGonagall caught up with Sasuke after lunch and steered him aside.

"Tonight at eight o' clock sharp there is going to be a staff party in one of the empty rooms in the dungeons," She told him, unrolling a piece of parchment. Sasuke could feel his stomach do a nasty flip at the word 'dungeons'. "Professor Dumbledore is expecting you to attend. He also said to tell you that Yuubi-san will be there, too."

... -_stumbles forward with a black eye- well. Fuck. Chapter 20 ended up kicking my ass. At least I'm moving forward, right? RIGHT?? Sorry, I'm not happy about this either. _

_Been going through a lot of stress lately. I had, like, five panic attacks in a row the other night... D: Oh well, more sleep and better work habits will help. Sorry again, guys. _


	21. Chapter 21 Like hell am I wearing THAT

_Okay, let's try this again. -adjusts armor and hefts lance- EN GUARD, CHAPITRE 21!!_

"I didn't know Sasuke was so fast." Ron mumbled around a pumpkin pastry, spraying crumbs everywhere. Harry and Hermione, who were walking with him to the library—or rather_, walking_ him to the library—nodded. Professor Snape had given them an essay on some remote and idiotic potion that no one had even heard of and Hermione had it in her mind to force Ron and Harry to begin writing _now_ so she didn't have to deal with their complaining later.

"Yeah, I was surprised, too," Hermione said, "he looks so petite compared to the other male teachers and Yuubi-san."

"We're not surprised." A pair of unmistakable voices chorused.

Fred and George had materialized seemingly out of nowhere.

"Uchiha's got a pretty nice bod, as far as blokes go,"George said conversationally.

"Even if he is a bit of a prude," Fred added.

"Meow." Mrs. Norris said.

"..." Fred and George regarded Filch's cat for a moment. "I think it's time to go." They said in unison and disappeared down the corridor with Mrs. Norris hot on their heels.

-- --

The rest of the trek to the library was sufficiently uneventful. Hermione let out a little sigh as the smell of musty books wafted around the trio—promising sanctuary and peace. A giggle shattered her illusion and Hermione glared at a group of girls clustered behind a bookcase, all of them peering through the books at a good-looking boy from Durmstrang.

"Victor Krum!" Ron whispered excitedly and Hermione rolled her eyes. So he played quidditch. Who gives a rip?

Obviously Harry and Ron did.

Hermione ignored the boys and slipped off to the back of the library to a table next to a giant window overlooking the lake. Dust wafted through the air like golden flecks in the dying sun. Hermione grabbed randomly on the shelf and came away with an interesting-looking book with the title, "Icha Icha Paradise." It was a faded orange with a picture of a young couple running in a field on the cover.

Perplexed, Hermione sat down and began to read. By chapter five she was fairly certain that this book was a trashy romance novel. The worst part of it, though... she was hooked. Every page she turned was filled with suspense, her heart pounded with anticipation.

What happened to Promiscuous Betty to make her so promiscuous? Would Action Man's secret identity be revealed? Just how long would it be until they realized their forbidden feelings of naughty love for each other??

"I'd put that down if I were you. I hear it kills braincells." the silky smooth voice jolted her out of her book-induced trance.

Sasuke sat across from her, leaning idly on one elbow with his hand cupping his cheek and a cocky smirk on his lips.

Hermione spluttered—half from being caught reading a romance novel and half from his sudden appearance.

"W-when did you get here?"

"I think some time around chapter three." Sasuke drawled, cocking an elegant black eyebrow at her.

Hermione fidgeted under his unwavering gaze as the seconds stretched into minutes. She was aware of how loud her breathing was compared to his and tried to be quieter.

Sasuke seemed to be waiting for something. A couple of times he opened his mouth as if to begin but then decided against it.

All the while Hermione sat with baited breath, wondering what she had done to deserve this extreme awkwardness that only she seemed to be aware of.

Despite her discomfort, Hermione took the chance to take in Sasuke's appearance. The glow of the setting sun glinted gold off of his obsidian hair and washed his clothing and face in a warm yellow. Hermione noticed that he had the beginnings of dark half-circles under his eyes as if he hadn't been getting a good night's sleep.

Nervously she licked her lips, "Um," she cleared her throat, almost dissolving in incoherent mumbles when she realized he was hanging on her every word, giving her his complete and undivided attention, "D-did you... um, want something?"

Sasuke looked away from her and suddenly Hermione was able to breath freely again. The light must have been playing tricks on her eyes because for a fraction of a second it looked like a light dusting of pink was spread across his cheeks. "Uh, well, it's kind of embarrassing, but..." He stopped abruptly when Harry and Ron unloaded their armfuls of books onto the table with a bang and dust escaped into the air around Sasuke and Hermione.

"Well maybe if you would bloody say something around them—!" Harry was saying angrily to Ron.

"You shouldn't lead them on to begin with!" Ron exclaimed back.

"I wasn't leading them on!!" Harry and Ron hadn't noticed Sasuke sitting across from Hermione or they weren't making any effort to acknowledge him, "It's not like I asked for their attention, Ron!"

"Oh what now?!" Hermione groused, displeased. She had come so close to hearing what Sasuke wanted to ask her and then _they_ had to come in and ruin the moment!

"Ron's mad because some girls from Durmstrang were asking me to show them where the reference section was." Harry sniped.

"Who's mad?!" Ron positively snarled, "I was just saying that—!"

"Oh shut up! The both of you!" Hermione snapped and then turned back to Sasuke, completely ignoring her best friends, "So, Uchiha-san, what were you saying?"

"Oh—well, I," Sasuke faltered, glancing at Ron and Harry, "I was—uh, _wondering_ if you three could tell me—uh—what that, uh, that one place is..." he finished lamely.

"...what?" Harry, Ron and Hermione deadpanned.

"Hogs-something,"Sasuke said, making a vague waving motion with his hands.

"Hogsmead?" Hermione ventured.

"Yes, Hogsmead." Sasuke confirmed.

"You've never heard of Hogsmead?" Ron looked dumbfounded.

"We can show you around, if you'd like." Harry offered, diverting Ron's attention elsewhere.

Sasuke hesitated; it would be rude to say no now. He heaved a long-suffering and silent sigh, and said politely, "That sounds nice."

--

At six thirty Sasuke returned to his room. The first thing he saw when he stepped inside was a mountain of colorful clothing piled upon his bed. He felt his body grow cold as he picked up a lime green halter top between his thumb and his index finger.

"Welcome back!" Jiraiya greeted him from the closet, "I went clothes—mmf!" He was silenced by the halter top that Sasuke flung at him.

"I. AM. **NOT.** WEARING. THAT." He enunciated.

"Haha, whatever you say." Jiraiya was very calm for a man who was only seconds away from a flame-filled and most likely violent death.

-- --

Sasuke escaped down the stairs to the dungeon as soon as Jiraiya turned his back on him. The fabric of the shirt he was wearing felt like liquid on his skin, and Sasuke admitted quietly to himself that maybe Jiraya had _some_ fashion sense. (What he doesn't know is that Sakura and Ino intercepted Jiraya in the clothing store and took it upon themselves to help find Sasuke a new wardrobe.)

The only complaint Sasuke had about what he was wearing at the moment was that his bright blue shirt seemed to be missing the top two buttons and he was showing a little more skin that he was used to; also, his black pants were hugging his hips a little lower—and much tighter—than he would've liked.

Regardless, he stepped towards the sounds of idle chatter and soft music.

-- -- - - -

The next thing Sasuke knew, he was dragging himself out of bed and grabbing for his bag of toiletries and stumbling tiredly towards the washroom. Under any other circumstance, he would have found it strange that he did not remember anything about the staff party last night, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to care.

The teacher's bath was fashioned like a cathedral today. The windows between the great arching pillars of marble were resplendent with their intricate designs of stained glass. The black sliver that was immersed in the gold of a dragon's eye followed Sasuke as he shed his clothing and scrubbed down his body before slipping into the pool. The colorful glass that was inlaid in the marble of the pool resembled a mermaid. She twisted her head to get a better look at Sasuke, smiling coquettishly as he clamped his legs shut. She tossed her yellow-brown hair and began to gossip in a clear, annoying nasally voice.

"Did you hear what Professor So in So was going to blah blah blah blah blah...?" and so on and so forth. Sasuke quit listening after the first few seconds and decided it was time to leave.

-- --

Hermione had told him that most of the students put on 'muggle' clothes when they went into Hogsmead; so Sasuke chose a long-sleeved shirt that had the least offending shade of red he could find in his wardrobe and slipped into a pair of low rise jeans. Once again he struggled uselessly to pull them higher on his body.

"They're called low-rise for a reason," Jiraiya was sitting in a cushy chair in front of the fireplace in Sasuke's room. The old man's eyes never left the book he was reading as he licked a finger and turned the page.

"Go to hell." Sasuke grunted, pulling on a black jacket and stuffing his feet into a pair of sneakers. As an afterthought, he pulled the ridiculously green scarf Naruto had given him at the Quidditch World Cup out from under a pile of robes—after all, it was getting chilly outside.

"Already there," Jiraya quipped as Sasuke slammed the portrait that covered his room shut.

-- -- --

_Hum, well, that wasn't so bad... Horridly short? Yes! But not as bad as I had anticipated. Do you guys remember the mermaid in the bathroom from a couple of chapters ago? I remember someone saying she should've talked to Sasuke, so I had to do it _XD

_Anyway, I'm headed out tomorrow afternoon for a trip to Alaska for a family reunion—don't ask _why Alaska?_ Because I have no idea. (unless I'm secretly an Eskimo or something—hooray for stereo-typing!!) So I thought I'd grace yous guys with another chapter before I leave.  
_

_And now, dear friends, I must depart for slumber. I have an ACT test to take in the morning, so wish me luck! And as always, feedback is very much appreciated._


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